Elta journal volume 2 no 2 dec 2014 by ELTA Serbia Newsletter

ELTA Journal • December 2014 • Volume 2, No. 2

ELTA Journal: An International & Interdisciplinary Journal of the ELT Practice & Research ISSN 2334-9662 (Online) ELTA – English Language Teachers’ Association Nemanjina 28, 11000 Belgrade Serbia + 381 (0) 63 210 460 + 381 11 36 11 644 ext. 110 elta.kancelarija@gmail.com Danijela Serafijanović, ELTA President serbia.eltapresident@gmail.com Editor-in-Chief: Maja Jerković, Vocational Medical School, Zrenjanin, Serbia Co-editor: Olivera Ćatić, MA student of Lifelong Learning, Aarhus University, Copenhagen, Denmark Proofreader and cover designer: Marija Panić, ELTA - English Language Teachers’ Association, Belgrade, Serbia Website: http://eltajournal.org.rs/ Send your submissions electronically to: newsletter.elta@gmail.com Contributors are requested to refer to the guidelines on the ELTA Journal website: http://eltajournal.org.rs/submission-guidelines/

The authors bear full responsibility for the content of their papers. The journal is published annually.

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ELTA Journal • December 2014 • Volume 2, No. 2

Editorial ELTA Journal

ELTA, teachers' association in Serbia is proud to present the second issue of ELTA Journal. In this first issue, last December, we presented the ideas that have shaped the creation of ELTA Journal and, this year, we would like to introduce new ideas that have guided us in developing this issue. Our aim was to connect research and practice and to present some theoretical considerations in the field of ELT. Our journal is blind peer-reviewed, allowing our authors to have their articles rechecked, reevaluated and inspected by unbiased experts. Carefully selected articles that we have prepared for you in this issue are written by teachers, associate professors and researchers in the ELT field. For some authors this is another way of reflecting on their practice and, for others, this is a form of teacher development. We are particularly proud that, as in the previous issue, our contributors are both domestic and international, and tackle interesting research areas in their studies in theoretical discussions. Our readers might be interested in an article by Radmila Palinkašević on a very current topic of bilingualism and its advantageous and disadvantageous effects on cognition and third language acquisition. Join another one of our colleagues Brankica Bojović in her exploration of the rich experience of translating metaphors from SL to TL and vice versa, and her use of Newmark’s translating methods in her classroom practice with students. Our contributor from a Tribhuvan University in Nepal, Pramod Kumar Sah, gathered and analysed data on how the undergraduate students in China, through their peer interactions, mediate understanding about the new language introduced to them and how they develop language competence. See what the result was of the joint study of Aleksandra Oletić from Stockholm University and Nina Ilić from University of Novi Sad on levels of intrinsic and extrinsic motivations to learn English as a foreign language among high school and university students. Ali Erarslan and Devrim Hol explored language interference and transfer of L1 into L2 when students do a translation test, while a UK freelancer Willy Cardoso shared with us his consideration of how teaching is a form of artistry, stressing the

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ELTA Journal • December 2014 • Volume 2, No. 2 importance of teacher intuition, and value of inquiry and collective engagement. Zorana Vasiljević will familiarize you with collocation studies in corpus and applied linguistics and offer suggestions for making criteria for the selection of target collocation, and developing activities that help students learn them and use them autonomously. Last, but not least, ELTA’s known contributor, Nina Kisin, discussed the ways of teaching business English vocabulary which is a rich source of new terminology in English and used around the world. The Editorial team would like to thank all the people who contributed to this issue and our former Editor-in-Chief, Ms Marija Ivanović, who was also among the initiators of ELTA Journal. We owe much gratitude to eminent professors and colleagues who reviewed the articles and, of course, to our contributors whose ideas will help advance the EFL research and the teaching practice. We hope you enjoy reading this issue and we look forward to receiving your feedback and article contributions for our next issue. Yours faithfully, ELTA Journal Editorial Team

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ELTA Journal • December 2014 • Volume 2, No. 2

Table of Contents 1. Language Interference on English: Transfer on the Vocabulary, Tense and reposition Use of Freshmen Turkish EFL Learners by Ali Erarslan and Devrim Hol 2. Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivation for Learning English as a Foreign Language by Aleksandra Oletić and Nina Ilić 3. Mediation in Peer Interaction among Chinese EFL Learners by Pramod Kumar Sah 4. Teaching Collocations in a Second Language: Why, What and How? By Zorana Vasiljević 5. Strategies of Metaphor Translation by Brankica Bojović 6. The Influence of Bilingualism on Cognition and Third Language Acquisition by Radmila Palinkašević 7. Developing Artistry in Teaching by Willy Cardoso 8. Teaching and Learning Financial English Vocabulary by Nina Kisin

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ELTA Journal • December 2014 • Volume 2, No. 2

Language Interference on English: Transfer on the Vocabulary, Tense and Preposition Use of Freshmen Turkish EFL Learners by Ali Erarslan, Pamukkale University, Turkey and Devrim Hol, Pamukkale University, Turkey Abstract In this study, the degree to which Turkish EFL learners make use of L1 transfer was examined in terms of vocabulary use, use of prepositions and the use of Simple Present Tense. The study was conducted by having participants perform a translation task and take a translation test. Results showed that most L1 interference took place in the use of prepositions and vocabulary following it. Participants showed more signs of transfer while they were making guesses on the meaning of given vocabulary items, phrases or sentences. The least rate of L1 transfer was observed in the use of Simple Present Tense. Key words: L1 transfer, language interference, cross-linguistic influence, errors Apstrakt U ovom radu ispitaćemo u kojoj meri turski učenici stranog jezika koriste transfer maternjeg jezika po pitanju upotrebe vokabulara, predloga i sadašnjeg vremena (The Simple Present Tense). Studija je izvedena tako što su učesnici imali prevod kao zadatak i tako što su radili test na kome su imali prevod. Rezultati pokazuju da se većina transfera iz maternjeg jezika dešava pri upotrebi predloga, a zatim pri upotrebi vokabulara. Znaci transfera kod učenika su uočljiviji kada su učesnici pogađali značenja datog vokabulara, fraza i rečenica. Najmanji transfer maternjeg jezika je primećen pri upotrebi sadašnjeg vremena (The Present Simple Tense). Ključne reči: L1 transfer, transfer jezika, među-lingvistički uticaj, greške

1. Introduction

Language Acquisition (SLA) over the past

The nature and extent of the influence of

four decades. Though there have been

native language (L1) on L2 learning

various

process have been debated in ESL and

"transfer" is or not, one of the most

EFL contexts in the field of

accepted definitions of the term "transfer"

Second

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discussions

what

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ELTA Journal • December 2014 • Volume 2, No. 2 is made by Odlin (Odlin, 1989) since this

transfer

definition is regarded as broad enough to

perceptions about what is transferable and

include different viewpoints related to

by their stage of development in L2

“transfer". According to Odlin (Odlin, 1989,

learning. In learning a target language,

pg 27): "transfer is the influence resulting

learners construct their own interim rules

from similarities and differences between

(Selinker, 1971, Seligar, 1988 and Ellis,

the

other

1994) with the use of their L1 knowledge,

language that has been previously (and

but only when they believe it will help them

perhaps imperfectly) acquired”. Transfer is

in the learning task or when they have

also known as L1 interference, linguistic

become sufficiently proficient in the L2 for

interference or cross-linguistic influence.

transfer to be possible. In fact, the

target

language

and

any

governed

learners’

difference between the terms “interference” First language “interference” and “transfer”

and “transfer” comes from the similarity or

are sometimes used interchangeably and

the difference in the structures of the two

sometimes

languages. According to Ellis (Ellis, 1994)

two

different

terms.

Interference is the automatic transfer, due

two languages having

to habit, of the surface structure of the first

structures may result in a high frequency of

language onto the surface of the target

errors in the target language which in turn

language(Dulay, Burt & Krashen, 1982).

indicates an interference of L1 on L2.As

Lott

defines

suggested by Gao (Gao, 2013), the learner

interference as ‘errors in the learner’s use

who comes in contact with a foreign

of the foreign language that can be traced

language may resort to his/her native

back to the mother tongue’. As Lott (Lott,

language

1983) suggests, by analyzing the students'

difficulties in the target language.

(Lott,

1983,

256)

features

distinct linguistic

replace

those

errors, teachers can begin to attribute a cause to an error with some degree of

One of the most important changes in

precision

for

second language researches has been the

example, mother tongue interference, or

issue of “errors”. Traditionally, learners’

teaching techniques, or problems inherent

producing an ill-formed structure in target

in the target language are the major cause

language was seen negatively and thus the

of their students’ errors. Additionally, Ellis

teachers needed to correct such ill-formed

(Ellis, 1994) refers to interference as

structures as soon as possible. Among

‘transfer’, which he says is 'the influence

different methods in second language

that the learner’s L1 exerts over the

teaching, behaviorist theory views errors

acquisition of an L2'. He argues that

as a part of habit formation and they

and

find

out

whether,

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ELTA Journal • December 2014 • Volume 2, No. 2 should be corrected immediately in order not

fossilized

(Griffiths,2008).

However, some recent methods regard errors as an indicator of actual acquisition process in action (Yule, 1996, James, 1998).According to Harmer (2003), errors are part of the students’ interlanguage, which is a developmental area of the learners and changes continuously until the learners become proficient in the language. Historically, in the 1950s and 1960s,

was

considered

that

comparing and contrasting the structures of L1 and the target language, errors would

1. L1 influence decreases with increasing L2 proficiency. 2. L1 influence increases with increasing L2 proficiency. 3. L1 influence remains constant with increasing L2 proficiency. 4.

influence

ultimately

decreases, but nonlinearly. 5. L1 influence ultimately increases, but nonlinearly. 6. L1 influence ultimately never decreases nor increases, but its presence continually fluctuates as L2 proficiency increases.

be easily predicted with the error analysis which saw a reaction in the 1970s claiming

Arguments related to the term "transfer"

that the L2 was learned in the same way

mainly focus on "errors"; thus, all these

as the L1, and independently of it; however

views raised another important question:

currently it is accepted that transfer occurs,

what is the distinction between errors and

but in a more complex way and it is not

mistakes? According to Ellis (Ellis, 1994),

regarded as the source of errors only

an error takes place when the deviation

(Benson, 2002). As suggested by Benson

arises as a result of lack of knowledge and

(Benson, 2002), transfer can be facilitative

he views mistakes as the result of

(positive transfer), or transfer can result in

problems

avoidance if the structure of the target

accessing their knowledge of a target

language does not exist in L1 and it can

language rule and cause them to fall back

lead to different rates of development

on some alternative, non-standard rule that

(p.68). Additionally, another phenomenon

they find easier to access. Ellis (Ellis,

regarding L1 influence is the effect of L2

1994) also refers to errors as gaps in the

proficiency. The relationship between L2

knowledge of the learners, which assumes

proficiency and its effect on transfer is

that the learners ‘system of knowledge is

listed by Jarvis (Jarvis, 2000, p.246,247)

the source of the errors. Thus, errors are

as:

considered

that

prevent

systematic

learners

and

from

occur

repeatedly. On the other hand, according to Corder (1967, cited by Ellis 2008), a

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ELTA Journal • December 2014 • Volume 2, No. 2 ‘mistake’ is a deviation in learner language

language as (1) the L2-input in a natural

that occurs when learners fail to perform

L2 speaking or classroom based learning

their competence. Within this point of view,

environment (2) the structures of their

mistakes as randomly occurring slips,

native language (L1); and (3) innate

unlike errors, are regarded as an indicator

linguistic knowledge 7.

of performance. Learners appear to accumulate structural It is assumed that the learner’s mother

entities

tongue (MT) will positively or negatively

difficulty in organizing this knowledge into

affect his learning a foreign language in

appropriate, meaningful structures and

second language acquisition (SLA). When

there seems to be a significant gap

the learner’s mother tongue and target

between

language are similar, the native language

organization of the knowledge. When

will

writing or speaking in English, the target

learning that is in case of similarities

language (L2), Turkish students seem to

between the native language and target

rely

language, the transfer functions positively,

structures to produce written or spoken

while in case of differences, it functions

pieces. Thus, with this aim in mind, based

negatively.

Turkish

on the learners' level of English, this study

language belongs to the Altaic branch of

seeks answer to the following research

the Ural-Altaic family of languages and

question:

actively

aid

foreign

Considering

language

that

English,

the

but

demonstrate

accumulation

their

Turkish

and

language

the

(L1)

English is a West Germanic language of Indo European family of languages, most

1- Based on language levels of students in

learners are assumed to transfer linguistic

English (elementary, pre-intermediate and

structures in a negative way because of

intermediate), how does L1 transfer affect

the distance between these two languages.

the use of English in terms of a. Vocabulary

Through the language learning process,

b. Prepositions

learners appear to rely on their mother

tongue (L1) considering L1 facilitates L2

Tense

learning in that both languages have

Present Tense)?

similarities with each other.

However,

these learners usually make use of

least three domains in terms of linguistic knowledge

while

acquiring

the

target

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Tense (Present Continuous instead

Simple

This study aims to investigate the effects of Turkish language on students’ production of English; transfer on vocabulary, tense

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ELTA Journal â&#x20AC;˘ December 2014 â&#x20AC;˘ Volume 2, No. 2 and preposition use of students at a state university in Turkey.

2. Method This research study was primarily designed as a descriptive study and therefore adopts a quantitative approach. In line with the approach, survey methodology was used to obtain the opinions of participants.

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ELTA Journal • December 2014 • Volume 2, No. 2 3. Setting and Participants This study was conducted at a state university aiming to explore the degree to which L1 transfer was evident in producing vocabulary, tense and prepositional items in English. In the research, the degree of L1 transfer on vocabulary, preposition and tense was evaluated separately depending on the students’ level of English. In the study, in order to investigate how L1 transfer was evident in English, 323 participants participated in the study at a state university in Turkey. The participants were randomly selected based on their language levels in English as Elementary, Pre-Intermediate and Intermediate level. The students receive English education in these levels under a program run by School of Foreign Languages and all the students use the same course book within the same framework. It has been an advantage for this study that using the same book in all English levels eliminates the risk of language transfer due to material use provided to students. Table 1. Distribution of participants and their language levels (N=323)

Age

Gender

Lang. Level

17-20

255

78.9

21-25

21.1

Total

323

100.0

Female

216

66.9

Male

107

33.1

Total

323

100.0

Elementary

150

46.4

Pre-intermediate

27.6

Intermediate

Total

323

100.0

General characteristics of the participant English preparatory class students were investigated in terms of their age, gender, and their level of English. Of the 323 students 255 (29 %) were between the age of 17-20 and 68 (21,1% ) were between the age of 21-25. Additionally, 216 (66,9%) were female and 107 (33,1 %) were male. As for the participants’ level of English, nearly half of the participants (46,4 %) were Elementary level students, 27,6 % were pre-intermediate and 26 % were in intermediate level.

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ELTA Journal • December 2014 • Volume 2, No. 2

4. Data Collection

preposition parts, the items were chosen from the students' writings. Moreover,

Initially, before constructing the items in

those which were added for the actual

the data collection tool in the form of a

study

knowledge and translation test, a total of

General

90 students' assignments in their writing

1953), which contains the most widely

course

and

useful 2,000 word families in English.

analyzed for each level. The written

West (1953, cited in Fox, 1979) used a

assignments were collected and analyzed

variety of criteria to select these words,

in the second semester to ensure that they

including frequency, ease of learning,

all had acceptable knowledge and skills in

coverage of useful concepts, and stylistic

L2 writing. When the academic year starts,

level. In addition, Academic Word List

students

(AWL),

were

randomly

preparatory

English

classes

are

were

chosen

Service

containing

based List

570

"The

(GSL)"(West,

words

which

exposed to writing exercises embedded in

appear with high frequency in academic

the core language course in the first three

textbooks across a range of disciplines

months until the end of first semester. In

was used as the vocabulary criteria. The

the second term, writing course starts and

AWL was created so that this word list

they learn writing based on “process

could be used by students to learn the

approach”. During the academic year, the

words most needed to study at universities

students are taught paragraph writing and

(Coxhead, 2000).

paragraph types first, and then essay

After constructing the test items, to collect

writing and essay types (Erarslan, 2011).

data, a form was developed having two

Students' writing assignments both in the

parts: a translation part and a test part

paragraph and in essay format were

where the participants were provided 20

analyzed based on their transfer errors.

vocabulary items, 10 tense items and 10

After the analysis, their transfer errors

preposition items in each part. In both

were categorized and it was seen that

parts, students were provided the same

three major errors were found to be in the

vocabulary, tense and preposition items.

vocabulary, tense and preposition use. Thus, for the actual study, based on their

All

writing assignments, three parts were

complete a translation task having 20

chosen

vocabulary items, which mainly consisted

vocabulary,

tense

and

preposition use. For the vocabulary and

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our

participants

phrasal

verbs,

were

asked

collocations

and

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ELTA Journal • December 2014 • Volume 2, No. 2 compound words our students find difficult

items in the “I know” column would be

with

interpreted as mistakes; whereas, the

prepositions and 10 sentences that require

ones in the “I guess” column would be

the use of Simple Present Tense. The

interpreted as transfer errors.

understand,

phrases

participants were asked to translate these items into English. In this task another

Immediately

after

the

important point was that the participants

participants

were

asked

were provided with two columns. They

translation test. In this test, the same items

were asked to write their translations to

in the first part were asked, however, this

the column with the heading “I know” if

time participants were provided with a

they were definitely certain about their

correct translation and a literal translation

response and they were asked to write

of the items in the form of multiple choice

their translation to the column with the

items. Participants were asked to identify

heading “I guess” if they were not certain

the choice they thought was the correct

about their response but guessed that it

alternative. The aim of this test was to find

should be such. The aim was to find out

out whether input would make any change

the rate of transfer occurred in guesses

in the rate of transfer items, if yes, in what

and in definitely known items. Transfer

way.

5. Procedure

elementary,

transfer to

task,

take

pre-intermediate

and

The study was conducted in a state

intermediate level classes at the same

university in Turkey among students who

time.

have

one

year

intensive

English

preparatory education. It was conducted in

6. Data Analysis

the first thirty minute of the course and

In analyzing the collected data, any kind of

participants were given brief information

literal

about what the aim of the study was and

complete, was accepted as language

what they had to do while doing the tasks.

transfer in the vocabulary section. In the

They were specifically asked to write

preposition section, any kind of literal

whatever

English

translation, absence of preposition where

equivalents of the provided phrases in

needed, use of unnecessary preposition in

Turkish. In order to make the participants

order to replace a suffix in Turkish, and

feel free in their responses, they were

finally, any kind of word transformation to

asked not to write their names on any of

replace a suffix in Turkish was accepted

the tasks given. The study was conducted

as language transfer. In the tense section,

they

think

the

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translation,

either

partial

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ELTA Journal • December 2014 • Volume 2, No. 2 any use of Present Continuous Tense or

and “I guess section”. So, after each

attempt to use Present Continuous Tense;

analysis, it was possible to see how many

that is, using auxiliary verb in front of the

questions

main verb without adding the –ing or

participant in each section and how many

adding –ing without using ‘auxiliary' in front

of the main verb was accepted as

translation test was also checked in the

language transfer.

same way. The number of answers given

The translation tasks and translation tests

by the participant to each section and the

were

transfer items in each section were

evaluated

separately.

the

translation task, each transfer item the

them

were

answered

the

transfer items. The

carefully marked.

total number of questions answered in each section was identified. The same procedure was followed in the preposition section, tense section, “I know” section

The results obtained from the research have

been

analyzed

separately

and

calculated according to their percentage of transfer.

7. Results 1) Vocabulary Transfer of Elementary, Intermediate and Intermediate Level Students a) Vocabulary Transfer of Elementary Level Students

Table 2. Transfer Evident in Vocabulary Items in Elementary Level of English

Average Transfer Rate

5,69

Average Test Items

Total Percentage of

Answered

Transfer

11,83

35%

At first, the data obtained were analyzed in terms of vocabulary, tense and preposition based on the participants' level of English. Elementary level students' responses in the tests related to vocabulary items analyzed and students answered an average of 11,83 vocabulary items out of 20 questions in translation part. Among vocabulary items answered, the transfer evident in vocabulary was 5,69 in average which was 35 % in total. Table 2 shows that students at university apply their knowledge from Turkish language to English in vocabulary choice which are mostly irrelevant to their English equivalents. Among vocabulary items where Turkish transfer was intensively applied are “Mutfak Robotu” which means “Food

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ELTA Journal • December 2014 • Volume 2, No. 2 Processor” in English. However, this word was mostly translated as “Kitchen Robot” as a direct translation and “Spor Ayakkabı” meaning “trainers” transferred as “Sports Shoes” by the students. Additionally, it is possible to say that the same case is true for “Köpek Balığı” meaning “Shark” in English. A majority amount of students translated it as “Dog Fish” just focusing on its Turkish equivalent word by word. One possible reason for such negative transfer is that words such as “köpek balığı” and “spor ayakkabı” are compound words in Turkish and students prefer using a compound translation in English. Their limited exposure to English may also be another reason for their incorrect transfer of vocabulary choice as they may still fail in mastery of target language.

b) Vocabulary Transfer of Pre-Intermediate Level Students Table 3. Transfer Evident in Vocabulary Items among Pre-Intermediate Level Students Average Transfer Rate

3,19

Average Test Items

Total Percentage of

Answered

Transfer

14,56

21,90%

When compared to transfer evident in vocabulary items according to Elementary Level of English(see Table 2.), transfer in vocabulary items according to Pre-intermediate level of English, students answered an average of 3,19 vocabulary items out of 20 questions in translation part. Among vocabulary items answered, the transfer evident in vocabulary was 14,56 in average which was 21,90 % totally. Table 3 shows that Pre-intermediate level students show less tendency to use Turkish vocabulary knowledge compared to Elementary students. The total amount of vocabulary transfer is 35% according to Elementary Level of English while it is 21,90 % totally according to Pre-intermediate level of English. However, the results here show that vocabulary transfer is still evident in both groups. c) Vocabulary Transfer of Intermediate Level Students Table 4. Transfer Evident in Vocabulary Items among Intermediate Level Students

Average Transfer Rate

4,21

Average Test Items

Total Percentage of

Answered

Transfer

14,86

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28,33%

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ELTA Journal • December 2014 • Volume 2, No. 2 In terms of transfer in vocabulary items according to intermediate level of English, students answered an average of 4,21 vocabulary items out of 20 questions in translation part. Among vocabulary items answered, the transfer evident in vocabulary was 14,86 in average which was 28,33 % totally. Table 4 shows that intermediate students make more use of Turkish vocabulary knowledge than Pre-intermediate level students and less transfer compared to elementary students. One of Studies related to L1 (Turkish) transfer to L2 was conducted by Erkaya (Erkaya, 2012) and in her study in which written texts of the participants in terms of errors were analyzed, it was the word choice appeared with the highest percentage as transfer error the students applied using their L1 knowledge. Additionally, according to another study focusing on written essays of the adult beginner Turkish students conducted by Kırkgöz (Kırkgöz, 2010), learners had mainly two types of errors as interlingual and intralingual errors and she suggests that one of major sources of student errors was result of L1 transfer. In her study, the words transferred from Turkish did not prevent the comprehension as Erkaya (Erkaya, 2012) mentions. Similarly, according to Karakas (n.d), Turkish students had serious problems in generating words and combining them into phrases and finally into sentences, which might range from a very simple to highly complex ones. 2) Preposition Transfer of Elementary, Intermediate and Intermediate Level Students a) Preposition Transfer of Elementary Level Students Table 5. Transfer Evident in Preposition Items among Elementary Level Students Average Transfer Rate

3,19

Average Test Items

Total Percentage of

Answered

Transfer

7,61

41%

The most striking result of the study was in the use of preposition in English. Transfer evident in preposition items according to Elementary Level of English was analyzed and students answered an average of 3,19 preposition items out of 10 questions in translation part. Among preposition items answered, the transfer evident was 7,61 in average which was 41 % totally. Table 5 shows that students in university level apply their knowledge from Turkish language to English in preposition choices which are mostly irrelevant to their English equivalents. This result indicates that preposition use is the most problematic part of students’ English learning process. The reason for this may be that the Turkish equivalents of “in, on, at” in English are all “-de, and –da” in Turkish. For example, almost all students answered the question “Ayşe

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Page 14

ELTA Journal • December 2014 • Volume 2, No. 2 ile evlenmek” as “marry with Ayşe” in English instead of “marry to Ayşe”. The preposition “ile” is “with” in English. As a result, when students come across or have to produce a phrase including “ile” in Turkish translation of an English phrase, they prefer to use it with its Turkish equivalent. On the other hand, the other most commonly transferred preposition item was “eve gelmek” for “come home”. In this question, most students again gave its English equivalent referring to its Turkish translation “come to home”, as it includes -e, -a suffixes showing direction.

b) Preposition Transfer of Pre-Intermediate Level Students Table 6. Transfer Evident in Preposition Items among Pre-Intermediate Level Students

Average Transfer Rate

Average Test Items

Total Percentage of

Answered

Transfer

7,07

21,49%

1,52

Transfer evident in preposition items according to Pre-intermediate level of English was analyzed and students answered an average of 1,52 preposition items out of 10 questions in translation part. Among preposition items answered, the transfer evident was 7,07 in average which was 21,49 % totally. Table 6 indicates that Pre-intermediate students tend to make less transfer in preposition items compared to elementary students. It is quite surprising that while elementary students have the highest amount of transfer in preposition use, the figures related to pre-intermediate students do not make so much difference compared to vocabulary and tense items. c) Preposition Transfer of Intermediate Level Students Table 7. Transfer Evident in Preposition Items among Intermediate Level Students Average Transfer Rate

Average Test Items

Total Percentage of

Answered

Transfer

7,36

21,33%

1,57

Transfer evident in preposition items among intermediate students was analyzed and students answered an average of 1,57 preposition items out of 10 questions in translation part. Among preposition items answered, the transfer evident was 7,36 in average which was 21,33 % totally. Table 7 shows that intermediate students tend to make transfer in

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Page 15

ELTA Journal • December 2014 • Volume 2, No. 2 preposition items equally. However the highest amount of transfer in preposition was seen among elementary students. Studies on prepositions show that Turkish students also have overgeneralization from L1 when applying prepositional rules to TL 16. Karakas (n.d) mentions that most prepositional errors can be explained as an L1 impact as the translation of the preposition encompasses the meaning of "through" in L1. According to Koban (Koban, 2011), the largest number of errors consisted in the misuse of prepositions and it may be caused by the fact that the learners probably learned a particular preposition with one type of verb and later used the same preposition with similar verbs (p.170). 3) Tense Transfer of Elementary, Intermediate and Intermediate Level Students a) Tense Transfer of Elementary Level Students Table 8. Transfer Evident in Tense Items among Elementary Level Students Average Transfer Rate

Average Test Items

Total Percentage of

Answered

Transfer

8,71

19%

1,66

Transfer evident in tense items according to Elementary Level of English was analyzed and students answered an average of 1,66 tense items out of 10 questions in translation part. Among tense items answered, the transfer evident in tense items was 8,71 on average which was 19 % totally. Table 8 indicates that university students who have been learning English in Elementary Level tend to rely on Turkish knowledge in the use of tense less when compared to vocabulary items. One of the most challenging items in tense translation was the ambiguity caused by meaningless responses given by the students. Some papers included responses such as “I am work post office” as an equivalent of “I work at the post office”.

b) Tense Transfer of Pre-intermediate Level Students Table 9. Transfer Evident in Tense Items among Pre-Intermediate Level Students

Average Transfer Rate

Average Test Items

Total Percentage of

Answered

Transfer

8,00

19,87%

1,59

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Page 16

ELTA Journal • December 2014 • Volume 2, No. 2 Transfer evident in tense items according to Pre-intermediate level of English was analyzed and students answered an average of 1,59 tense items out of 10 questions in translation part. Among tense items answered, the transfer evident was 8,00 in average which was 19,87 % totally. Table 9 indicates that Pre-intermediate students tend to make transfer in tense items equally with elementary students.

c) Tense Transfer of Intermediate Level Students

Table 10. Transfer Evident in Tense Items among Intermediate Students Average Transfer Rate

Average Test Items

Total Percentage of

Answered

Transfer

8,43

21,23%

1,79

Transfer evident in tense items among intermediate was analyzed and students answered an average of 1,79 tense items out of 10 questions in translation part. Among tense items answered, the transfer evident was 8,43 in average which was 21,23 % totally. When compared to previous groups, Table 10shows that intermediate students tend to make transfer in tense items mostly. Though the results are nearly same in two other groups, the highest amount of tense transfer is seen among intermediate students. In theory, it is expected that the more the students have input in learning a second language, the less they make L1 interference. According to the study of Erkaya (Erkaya, 2012), among the transfer errors, the verb tense errors were not as many as word choice and preposition errors. Similarly, among the errors identified in Koban’s (Koban, 2011)study, tense errors were listed as the less frequent ones compared to prepositional and lexical errors, however, Koban (Koban, 2011, p.171) mentions that “the actual source of most tense errors is interference from the other terms of the English system, and only rarely from the corresponding Turkish form. The influence of Turkish is apparent in the second category in which the verbs are marked with -ing for the progressive aspect”. In fact, although tense choice of the participants focused only at progressive form and at present form as in our study, as Koban stated (Koban, 2011), the

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Page 17

ELTA Journal • December 2014 • Volume 2, No. 2 influence of Turkish on English is apparent in terms of –ing form in tense use, and for this reason instead of focusing on other aspects of tenses, this study only focused on –ing aspect. Similar to our study, Kirkgoz (Kirkgoz, 2010, p. 435) explains based on her study that “the major source of errors in the tense choice is that for the given situations, simple present tense is used to express in English language, whereas in Turkish present continuous tense is employed”. It is true that most state verbs are expressed in Present Continuous tense in Turkish language, thus most Turkish students have a tendency to say” I am loving you” instead of “I love you” as the English equivalent.

Figure 1. Comparison of Vocabulary, Preposition and Tense Transfer among language levels

Figure 2. The Transfer Evident Based on “I Know” and “I Guess” section Figure 2 shows the amount of transfer items in vocabulary, tense and preposition sections according to language levels. The table shows the amount of the transferred items based on participants' choices "I know" or "I guess" indicating that whether they know the English equivalents of the test items or they guess them.

In the ‘I know’ column, Elementary

students' rate of transfer was 29%, Pre-intermediate level was 18, 87%, and the rate of transfer among intermediate students was 20, 35%. E-mail correspondence: newsletter.elta@gmail.com Copyright ELTA Journal 2014 www.eltajournal.org.rs

Page 18

ELTA Journal • December 2014 • Volume 2, No. 2 In the ‘I guess’ column, the amount of the transfer in the Elementary group was 41%, Preintermediate level was 40%, and the rate of transfer among intermediate students was 49%.

Table 11. Transfer Evident in Vocabulary in Both Translation and Test Item Vocabulary

Preposition

Tense

Translation Part

31%

33%

19%

Test Part

40%

46,98%

24%

Table 11shows the percentages of items based on transfer in two parts of the data collection instrument as “Translation task” and “test item”. The rate of all the item types asked in the study showed an increase in Test item part. Interestingly, the aim of providing input in the test item part of the study was to see if the students could find the true equivalents of the items asked in Turkish. Contrary to the expectations, students used their knowledge of Turkish in a greater extent in Test item part though they were given the right answer in the options. Transfer on vocabulary increases by 9% in test item part, the rate of increase was 5% in tense and transfer on preposition increased by 13, 98% in test item part. 8. Conclusion

appropriate use of the target language among the provided items. In using L1

The major concern of this study has been

structures, the learners have taken some

language

risks that include guessing of a more or

interference, or transfer, on English in

less informed kind. They have attempted

vocabulary, tense and preposition use.

to use invented

The

producing meaningless items in English.

investigate

learners

structures

Turkish

have

used

produce

some

or borrowed

items,

appropriate

responses in L2, producing acceptable

Most linguists agree that transfer is mostly

equivalents

phrases.

seen in beginner levels and in less

However, the learners have also used L1

proficient learners. Studies have shown

structures

that less proficient learners have been

structures, producing inappropriate L2

reported to transfer more elements from

responses, indicating an interference of L1

their first language than learners who

on L2. In both translation and test item

present

phases, the responses which the students

(Cenoz, Hufeisen and Jessner, 2001).

gave

Jiang and Kuehn (Jiang and Kuehn, 2001)

the

Turkish

interchangeably

reflect

failure

with

producing

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higher

levels

proficiency

Page 19

ELTA Journal â&#x20AC;˘ December 2014 â&#x20AC;˘ Volume 2, No. 2 conducted a study on immigrant students from different language backgrounds. They found out that beginner to intermediate level students made use of transfer strategies while advanced students made use of cognitive strategies. Major (Major, 1986) and Wenk (Wenk, 1986) have also found out that beginner level students were more likely to make transfer errors than more advanced ones. On the other hand, linguists such as Kellerman (Kellerman, 1983) see the errors of beginner level learners as developmental errors and claim that, in order to be able to make transfer errors learners should have developed awareness in the language (cited in Ellis, 1994). Our study also shows similar results in that the elementary level students made use of L1 transfer more than the advanced ones. Additionally, Ringbom (Ringbom, 2007) views transfer as lexical borrowing. Similarly, Odlin (Odlin, 1989) states that lexical level transfer in the early stage is seen in the form of borrowing as is seen in our study. When the learners fail to recognize the appropriate items in English and interpret them out of their actual use, they adjust the form of their L2 written responses by using items which are part of their L1. The analysis of the learners 'translation and test item tasks revealed the extent to which their L2 responses are affected by their L1, the procedures aimed to express the phrases which included vocabulary, tense and preposition items and to see the extent to which and the manner in which L1 knowledge interferes with L2. The L2 errors made are traceable to the learners' L1 and we can conclude that there is definite interference of L1 on L2. In the process of attempting to relate L1 to L2, they consider about the similarity or difference between L2 and L1. The result is that the students rely heavily on their L1 knowledge and respond to items of L2 under known categories in L1, hence a translation process has taken place. It is seen in this study that the second language learners have adopted their L1 structures to help them in their L2 translations and option choices.

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Page 20

ELTA Journal • December 2014 • Volume 2, No. 2

References: Albirini Abdulkafi, & Benmamoun Elabbas. (2014). Aspects of second-language transfer in the oral production of Egyptian and Palestinian heritage speakers. International Journal of Bilingualism, Vol. 18(3), 244– 273. Benson, C. (2002) ‘Key concepts in ELT: transfer / cross-linguistic influence’. ELT Journal 56/1: 68-70. Bhela, B. (1999). Native language interference in learning a second language : Exploratory case studies of native language interference with target language usage, 1(1), 22–31. Jiang, B. & Kuehn, P. (2001). Transfer in the Academic Language Development of Postsecondary ESL Students, In R.DeVillar & J. Tinajero (Eds.) Bilingual Research Journal, 25 (4), 653-672. Cenoz, J, B. Hufeisen & U. Jessner. (2001). Cross-linguistic Influence in Third Language Acquisition: Psycholinguistic Perspectives. Bristol: Multilingual Matters Ltd. Coxhead, A. (2000). A New Academic Word List, TESOL Quarterly34(2), 213–238. Dulay, H., Burt, M. & Krashen, S. (1982), Language Two, Oxford University Press, New York. Erarslan, A.(2011). “Perceptions and Attitudes of the Preparatory Class Students towards the Writing Course and Attitude-Success Relationship in Writing in the School of Foreign Languages at Pamukkale University.” Unpublished Master's Thesis Erkaya, R. (2012). Vocabulary and L1 Interference – Error Analysis of Turkish Students ’ English Essays, 36(2), 1–11. Ellis, R. (1994). The study of Second Language Acquisition. New York: Oxford University Press. Gao, H. (2013). On Source Language Interference in Interpretation. Theory and Practice in Language Studies, 3(7), 1194–1199. doi:10.4304/tpls.3.7.1194-1199 Griffiths, C. (2008). Strategies and good language learners. In C. Griffiths (Ed.),Lessons from good language learners (pp. 83-98). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press Harmer, J. (2003). The Practice of English Language Teaching. Pearson Education Ionin, T., Zubizarreta, M. L., & Maldonado, S. B. (2008). Sources of linguistic knowledge in the second language acquisition of English articles. Lingua, 118(4), 554–576. doi:10.1016/j.lingua.2006.11.012 James, C. (1998). Errors in Language Learning and Use. Exploring Error Analysis. London & New York: Longman. Jarvis Scott. (2000). Methodological Rigor in the Study of Transfer: Identifying L1 Influence in the Interlanguage Lexicon. Language Learning, 50(2), 245–309. Karakas, A. (1996). No Title. Retrieved from http://www.developingteachers.com/articles_tchtraining/turkerrorspf_ali.htm Kellerman, E. (1983). Now you see it, now you don’t. In S. Gass & L. Selinker (Eds.), Language transfer in language learning (pp. 112-134). Rowley, MA: Newbury House. Kirkgöz, Y. (2010). An analysis of Written Errors of Turkish Adult Learners of English. World Conference on Educational Sciences February, Procedia Social and Behavioral Sciences 2: 4352-4358 Koban, D. (2011). A Case Study of Turkish ESL Learners at LaGuardia Community College , NYC Error Analysis, 26, 168–172. Lott, D. (1983). Analysing and Counteracting Interference Errors. ELT Journal Ringbom, H. (2007). Cross-linguistic Similarity in Foreign language Learning. Bristol: Multilingual Matters Ltd. Seligar H. (1988). Psycholinguistic Issues in Second Language Acquisition’ in Issues in Second Language Acquisition: Multiple Perspectives, London

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ELTA Journal • December 2014 • Volume 2, No. 2 Selinker, L. (1971). The Psychologically Relevant Data of Second Language Learning in The Psychology of Second Language Learning. Cambridge University Press Major, R. C. (1986). The Ontogeny Model: Evidence From L2 Acquisition Of Spanish R. Language Learning, 36: 453–504. Murphy, S. (n.d.). Second Language Transfer During Third Language Acquisition, 1–21. Wang, X. (2009). Exploring the Negative Transfer on English Learning. Asian Social Science, 5(7), 138–143. doi:10.5539/ass.v5n7p138 Wenk, B. J. (1986). Crosslinguistic influence in second language phonology: speech rhythms. In Kellerman, E. and Sharwood Smith, M. A. , editors, Crosslinguistic influence in second language acquisition. Elmsford, NY: Pergamon , 120-133. West, M. (1953). A General Service List of English Words. London: Longman, Green & Co. Yule, G.(1996). The Study of Language. Cambridge University Press

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Page 22

ELTA Journal • December 2014 • Volume 2, No. 2

Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivation for Learning English as a Foreign Language by Aleksandra Oletić, Stockholm University / Stockholm, Sweden Nina Ilić, University of Novi Sad / Novi Sad, Serbia Abstract In the last few years, the topic of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation has raised a lot of interest in EFL learning. Intrinsic and/or extrinsic motivation and the correlation between motivation and success in learning a foreign language have been examined. The goal of this paper is to examine how the self-determination framework (Deci and Ryan, 2000) for L2 learning motivation extends to a group of Serbian language learners of English. The focus of our research is on examining intrinsic and extrinsic motivation of Serbian students of English, with the aim of answering the question whether or not the students are intrinsically/extrinsically motivated and to what extent. High school students and university students were given the Post-Experimental Intrinsic Inventory test and the method used for analyzing the results was descriptive statistics. The results obtained show that there are generally low levels of intrinsic motivation present among both high school and university students. It was expected that the results for Interest/Enjoyment would be more decisively in favor of university students, but this was not the case. The differences in motivation are minimal in relation to gender, even though female students show an increase of intrinsic motivation across the age variable. Key words: motivation, intrinsic, extrinsic, students Apstrakt U poslednjih nekoliko godina interesovanje za temu intrinzične i ekstrinzične motivacije stalno raste u oblasti učenja engleskog kao stranog jezika. Istražuju se intrinzična i/ili ekstrinzična motivacija i korelacija između motivacije i uspeha u učenju stranog jezika. Cilj ovog rada je da istraži kako se teorija samoodređenja (Deci i Rajan, 2000)u okviru motivacije za učenje stranog jezika može primeniti na grupu učenika engleskog jezika iz Srbije. Naše istraživanje se bavi ispitivanjem intrinzičke i ekstrinzičke motivacije učenika srednjih škola i studenata engleskog jezika u Srbiji, sa ciljem dobijanja odgovora na pitanje da li su učenici intrinzički/ekstrinzički orijentisani i u kojoj meri. Učenici srednje škole i studenti su ispitani metodom posteksperimentalnog intinzičkog inventara ličnosti, a rezultati su obrađeni deskriptivnim statističkim tehnikama. Dobijeni rezultati pokazuju da je kako kod učenika srednjih škola tako i kod studenata prisutan relativno nizak nivo intrinzičke motivacije. Očekivalo se da će rezulatati za varijablu Interesovanje/ Uživanje biti u značajnoj meri u korist studenata, ali ovo nije bio slučaj. Razlike u motivaciji su minimalne kada je u pitanju pol kao nezavisna varijabla, iako ženski studenti pokazuju malo veću sklonost ka intinzičkoj motivaciji. Ključne reči: motivacija, intrinzična, ekstrinzična, učenici

1. Introduction

extrinsic motivation of Serbian students of

In the last few years, the topic of intrinsic

English, with the aim of answering the

and extrinsic motivation has raised a lot of

question whether or not the students are

interest in EFL learning. The goal of this

intrinsically/extrinsically motivated and to

paper

what extent.

examine

how

the

self-

determination framework for L2 learning motivation extends to a group of Serbian language learners of English. The focus of

2. Literature Review 2.1. Definition and theories

our research is on examining intrinsic and E-mail correspondence: newsletter.elta@gmail.com Copyright ELTA Journal 2014 www.eltajournal.org.rs

Page 23

ELTA Journal • December 2014 • Volume 2, No. 2 In basic terms, motivation can be defined

motivation research moved away from the

as the main incentive a person may have

mechanical interpretation of motivation

to perform a particular action. Motivation is

within the behaviorist framework.

what urges people to initiate an action and

In the last few decades, more

to persist in performing it (Topalov, 2011).

cognitive approaches to motivation were

As far as student motivation is concerned,

developed.

it is based to a great extent on the

importance of students’ interpretation of

students’ subjective experiences, i.e. their

certain events and the role of their beliefs,

willingness

emotions

and

personal

motives

They

and

emphasized

values

the

achievement

engage in the learning process (Brophy,

situations. Therefore, motives were no

2004).

longer looked for outside, but inside the

This

section

will

provide

overview of different theories of motivation,

individual

beginning from its early development under

important theoretical approaches within the

the influence of behaviorism to more

cognitive framework are expectancy-value

dynamic

theories,

current

models

based

cognition.

(Topalov,

goal

2011).

theories,

The

three

and

self-

theories

treat

determination theory.

The first theories of motivation were developed

under

the

influence

Expectancy-value behavior

function

one’s

behavioral theory in the 1950’s. At first,

expectancies and the value of the goal

behaviorism emphasized the importance of

toward which one is working. Atkinson’s

human drives and needs. Later, the focus

achievement motivation theory holds that

shifted to reinforcement as the primary

motivation to succeed depends on the

means of shaping behavior (Brophy, 2004).

motives, one’s estimate of the degree of

In the classroom environment, various

probability of succeeding in the task, and

reinforcements are available: praise, high

the degree to which one values the

grades, extra points, competitions etc. To

potential

be precise, some behaviorists often talked

According to this theory, the two essential

about

parts

control

rather

than

motivation.

rewards

(Topalov,

achievement

2011).

motivation

are

Stimulus control is what reminds learners

motivation to succeed and motivation to

that a certain kind of behavior will lead to

avoid failure (Brophy, 2004). As opposed

reinforcement. If a desired behavior is not

to achievement theory in which people

yet accomplished, gradual improvement is

orient

achieved by the means of approximations.

attribution theory explains how people

Once

occasional

interpret their past behavior. Furthermore,

reinforcement is what preserves it (Brophy,

attribution theorists focus on how those

2004). However, the subsequent phase of

explanations

accomplished,

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themselves

toward

influence

the

people’s

future,

future

Page 24

ELTA Journal • December 2014 • Volume 2, No. 2 motivation

and

performance

(Topalov,

2011).

reward except the activity itself.” Selfdetermination theory puts emphasis on

Goal theories are oriented towards

three innate psychological needs which

the goals which individuals seek to fulfill.

need to be satisfied in order for an

Two

particularly

individual to feel intrinsically motivated.

influential in the last two decades: goal-

Those needs are: autonomy (in deciding

setting theory and goal orientation theory.

what to do and how to do it), competence

The former stresses the importance of goal

(abilities and skills by which we manage to

existence

and

control our environment) and relatedness

motivation, whereas the latter deals with

(relationships we develop through our

success

the

interaction with others). This assumption

classroom. There are two tendencies that

has significant implications for students

can be distinguished in relation to goal

engaged in the learning process. Namely,

orientation: learning goal and performance

students are more likely to experience

or ego-involvement goal (Topalov, 2011).

intrinsic motivation in an environment that

theories

for

have

purposeful

and

Finally,

been

action

achievement

self-determination

theory

promotes the satisfaction of these needs

was created by Edward Deci and Richard

than in the one which neglects them

Ryan.

(Brophy, 2004). Moreover, according to

According

self-determination

theory, motivated actions can be either

some

self-determined

Self-

learning tends to be more valuable than

which

extrinsically oriented one (Deci and Ryan,

determined

actions

controlled. are

those

individuals freely choose and want to do. This means that the only incentive for

studies,

intrinsically

motivated

2000). Intrinsic motivation was adeptly

undertaking this kind of actions comes

illustrated

the

from one’s enjoyment and interest in a

developed by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi.

particular activity i.e. intrinsic motivation.

Flow represents the feeling of complete

On the other hand, controlled actions are

absorption in the activities which we enjoy.

those which are determined by an external

For an artist, flow is most likely to take

force. Therefore, they come as a result of

place while creating a certain piece; for a

extrinsic motivation (Brophy, 2004).

mathematician,

while

concept

solving

flow,

math

problem. At any rate, whenever it happens, 2.2. Intrinsic and extrinsic motivation

people lose their sense of time. They stay

Intrinsic motivation is related to an internal

focused on the task without letting any

wish to do something. Deci (1975:23)

distractions keep them away from what

defines intrinsically motivated activities as:

they are doing (Brophy, 2004).

“the ones for which there is no apparent

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Page 25

ELTA Journal â&#x20AC;˘ December 2014 â&#x20AC;˘ Volume 2, No. 2 On the other hand, those who are

regulation, which is connected to those

extrinsically motivated perform a certain

actions

action not because they truly enjoy it, but

rewards or constraints. Therefore, the

because of a reward that is available in

actions are fully controlled. The second

their

2011).

type, introjected regulation, is responsible

Extrinsic goals can vary from short-term

for those activities which are slightly more

goals (good grades, prizes from the

internalized, in the sense that we have

teacher

learned how to behave in an expected

ones

way. If not, we feel guilty, which means

(possibility of winning scholarships, better

that we no longer need an external factor

job opportunities, higher social status, etc).

which

Certain studies carried out in the 1970s

However,

and 1980s showed that rewards can lead

adopted are in conflict with our sense of

to a decrease in intrinsic motivation among

self. The next type of regulation, identified

people who are already doing something

regulation

because of their own reasons (Brophy,

identifies a certain value that s/he has

2004).

adopted as important. Finally, integrated

environment

and

competitions,

Even

(Topalov,

parents,

participation

etc)

long-term

though

the

purely

would the

motivated

control

our

mechanisms

occurs

when

external

behavior. we

have

individual

distinction

regulation is the most self-determined type

between the two types of motivation is still

because of the complete integration of

essential when discussing motivation, the

adopted values and oneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s sense of self

attitude towards extrinsic motivation has

(Brophy, 2004).

changed. Today, it is thought that intrinsic motivation and extrinsic reward can work together

toward

motivated

learning

(Topalov, 2011). In line with this, Deci and Ryan

(2000)

have

reconsidered

their

original theory of self-determination in order to include extrinsic motivation. This reviewed

theory

claims

that

even

extrinsically motivated behavior can be self-determined

the

process

internalization (transformation of external regulations into internal ones) takes place. Four types of extrinsic regulation can be identified in relation to the degree of internalization. The first type is external

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Page 26

ELTA Journal â&#x20AC;˘ December 2014 â&#x20AC;˘ Volume 2, No. 2 (2001, Noel)) is indicative of lack of effort in learning

2.3. Related work Noels,

Clement,

measured

the

and

Pelletier

intrinsic,

(2001)

extrinsic,

and

integrative motivation of French students in a

summer

immersion

course.

The

questionnaire administered to the students measured their perceptions of autonomy and

competence,

learning

effort,

determination, and reasons for language

regulation correlated

English. and

Greater

identified

intrinsic

with

higher

motivation

intensity

and

persistence in learning English. In fact, both Anglophone and non-English learners of English showed high levels of identified and external regulation and low levels of amotivation. French students of English reported

that

they

were

motivated

learning with their achievement in the

extrinsically (due to internal or external

course. They analyzed the connection

pressures) if the learning environment did

between

motivation

not support their sense of autonomy. On

extrinsic

the other hand, the presence of internal or

motivation and its subtypes as less self-

external pressures did not predict the

different

(hierarchically

types

ordered

from

determined to intrinsic motivation as the most determined type) and its expected antecedents variables

and

they

perception

chose

were

autonomy

competence persistence

consequences.

English

studentsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;

and

compared

The

English

with studies

their (their

amount of effort a student would put into the learning process. The results of the research indicate that the amount of effort is influenced by the proximity of external punishment/reward,

whereas

intrinsic

motivation correlates with higher levels of learning effort.

intention to continue their studies), and

Bakar, Sulaiman and Rafaai (2010)

motivation (the effort they exerted for

explored motivation of Muslim learners of Arabic. The purpose of the study was to

studying language). They hypothesized that perceived autonomy

and

antecedents persistence

of in

competence

were

the

motivation

and

that

learning,

motivation

learning, and that final grades were the consequences. In their research, extrinsic and identified regulations were endorsed to a larger degree than intrinsic motivation and introjected regulation. Their findings suggest that amotivation (lack of any, both extrinsic and intrinsic, goals for learning E-mail correspondence: newsletter.elta@gmail.com Copyright ELTA Journal 2014 www.eltajournal.org.rs

see if the 7-factor structure of motivational orientation,

which

accounted

for

the

previous study of Anglo-French learners of English and French (Noels, 2000), would be appropriate for Muslim learners of Arabic as well. They used 45 items related on a 7-point scale. Items were based on the subscales which were adopted by Noels et al. (2000): intrinsic motivationknowledge, accomplishment,

intrinsic intrinsic

motivationmotivation-

Page 27

ELTA Journal • December 2014 • Volume 2, No. 2 stimulation,

extrinsic

motivation-external

regulation, extrinsic motivation-introjected regulation,

extrinsic motivation-identified

regulation

and

religious

orientations

amotivation.

Specific

were

also

incorporated into the existing scale.

important when it comes to motivation orientations. Finally, we would like to mention a study that comes from another field of education

(Physical

Education).

The

reason for mentioning it is to show the

The results of this study show that a

distribution and usefulness of Intrinsic

difference should be made between the

Motivation Inventory (IMI), which we used

types of motivation, since no correlation

in our research. McAuley and Duncan

between

(1988)

the

subscales

was

found.

claim

that

IMI

flexible

However, the scales that proved to be

assessment tool and that neither inclusion

important for Muslim learners are not

nor exclusion of one of the factors

identical to those found in the previous

negatively

study by Noels (2000). Namely, intrinsic

Moreover, they state that IMI is a very

motivation-knowledge, intrinsic motivation-

useful instrument, because items can be

accomplishment,

easily paraphrased in order to adjust to

identified

extrinsic-motivation

regulation,

amotivation

affects

other

dimensions.

and

different types of activities. This allows

religious motivation surfaced as distinctive

researchers to freely moderate the items in

orientations. What should be pointed out is

a most convenient way, which suits their

that Religious motivation appeared as a

needs and goals. This was the case with

new dimension as a result of the religious

our study as well.

environment in which the study was carried out. Since Arabic is the sacred language of

3. Method

the Muslim religion and Muslim students

3.1. Participants

have very strong feelings about it, items

Two groups of students completed the

which had a religious connotation could no

questionnaire: the first group consisted of

longer be

classified under

30 high school students (ages 17 to 18,

subscales,

but

special

average age = 17) and the second group

dimension. Although 5 out of 6 items in this

were 30 third year university students at

newly established dimension were initially

the English department of the Faculty of

part of the Introjected Regulation construct,

Philosophy in Novi Sad, Serbia (ages 21-

students’ internalized

religious that

ensured

the initial

motives they

were

27, average age = 22). Women comprised

surpassed

the

74% of the study’s sample, and men 26%.

intrinsic/extrinsic boundary. All this shows

Even

that social and cultural factors are very

students is much higher than of male

though

students, E-mail correspondence: newsletter.elta@gmail.com Copyright ELTA Journal 2014 www.eltajournal.org.rs

the

number

sample

female

gathered

Page 28

ELTA Journal • December 2014 • Volume 2, No. 2 representative

the

prototypical

classroom setting in which English is

degree of perceived importance of learning English.

learned as a second language in Serbia.

3.3.3.

Perceived

Choice.

Five

items of the questionnaire (3, 6, 10, 16 and 3.2. Instrument

18) belonged to this sub-category, with

The instrument consisted of a set of 23

three negative statements whose score

randomly

was reversed.

ordered

items

Post-

Experimental Intrinsic Motivation Inventory

3.3.4. Value/ Usefulness. Six items

test developed by Ryan in 1982. Each item

of the questionnaire (4, 5, 9, 15, 19 and 22)

belonged

following

belonged to this sub-category. A high

motivation:

mean score for this item indicates a high

Effort/Importance,

degree of usefulness and perceived value

one

subcategories Interest/Enjoyment,

of of

the

Perceived Choice, Value/ Usefulness. We

(extrinsic motivation) of learning English.

adapted the instrument by completing the items in the Value/Usefulness category so

3.4. Procedure

that they would fit the purpose of research

The questionnaire was administered to

which was to examine the students’

university students during regular class

general motivation for learning language.

hours. The participants were informed that

Students were to select a number on a

the data gathered were anonymous and

scale from 1 to 5 which represented the

used for the purpose of research. Only

extent to which a given statement applied

their age and gender was collected from

to them.

personal information. The questionnaires

3.3.1. Interest/Enjoyment. Seven

were filled out at the students’ own pace,

items of the questionnaire (1, 8, 12, 17, 20,

but the average time of completing the

21 and 23) belonged to this sub-category,

data

with two negative statements whose score

minutes.

sampling

was

approximately

was reversed. A high mean score for this

For the purpose of this paper, we

item indicates a strong interest (intrinsic

used descriptive statistics to quantitatively

motivation) for learning activities.

describe

our

results.

measured

3.3.2. Effort/ Importance. Five

standard deviation and the mean and

items of the questionnaire (2, 7, 11, 13 and

average value for the student’s answers to

14) belonged to this sub-category, with two

different items of the survey and compared

negative statements whose score was

them across the variables of age and

reversed. A high mean score for this item

gender. The results reflect the students’

indicates a high amount of effort and

general attitudes toward learning English and are to be interpreted as broad

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Page 29

ELTA Journal â&#x20AC;˘ December 2014 â&#x20AC;˘ Volume 2, No. 2 generalizations

rather

than

definite

thus the descriptions in the following can

However,

the

sample

be used to pinpoint some tendencies that

selected for this study is representative of

may be a possible course of future

the target group in a real-life situation and

research.

descriptions.

4. Results and Discussion 4.1. Data Table 1: Responses from all participants ITEM

Student item responses (%) 1

3.33

6.67

8.33

11.7

18.3

13.3

18.33 33.33

3.98

1.09

13.33

2.98

1.23

3.37

1.22

3.32

1.35

3.08

1.22

28.33 41.67 20

13.33 36.67 16.67 10

Mean

28.33 21.67

18.33 36.67 16.67 16.67 25

31.67

2.68

1.13

11.67 41.67

18.33

3.13

1.23

Total:

3.22

1.21

3.33

1.16

8.33

16.67 23.33 36.67

28.33 6.667

3.72

1.31

11.7

31.67 21.67

3.38

1.28

6.67

43.33

4.15

0.91

3.33

23.33 33.33

3.63

1.22

Total:

3.64

1.18

18.33

3.62

1.02

4.12

1.28

31.67

6.67

8.33

21.67 26.67

26.67

3.12

1.40

8.33

13.33

58.33

4.28

0.98

13.33

8.33

21.67 11.67

3.67

1.45

Total:

3.76

1.23

11.67 13.33

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Page 30

ELTA Journal â&#x20AC;˘ December 2014 â&#x20AC;˘ Volume 2, No. 2

3.33

21.67

4.58

0.74

3.33

78.33

4.68

0.7

1.67

31.67

4.37

0.86

3.33

36.67 41.67

4.1

0.99

1.67

18.33 28.33 51.67

4.3

0.82

16.67 31.67 46.67

4.2

0.89

Total:

4.37

0.83

In table 1, we present the results of all our participants. At first sight, it is apparent that the subjects are more extrinsically than intrinsically oriented, since the Value/Usefulness variable is the highest rated one (4.37). What is interesting is that the highest rated item is the item 5, which means that the majority of students believe they will have a long-term reward i.e. learning English will help them while traveling abroad. The variable with the lowest mean is Interest/Enjoyment (3.22). The only two items which were rated lower than 3 (items 8, 21) belong to this variable, which suggests students do not find activities they do in their English classes especially fun. However, this does not mean that students are not intrinsically motivated, since the mean of the both of the remaining two variables exceeds 3.5. It should be pointed out that it is important for students to do well (mean 3.64) and that they consider learning English to be their own choice to a large extent (3.76). Table 2: Student responses in relation to age Male and female high school

Male and female university

students

ITEM

MEAN

3.47

1.18

4.5

0.7

2.8

1.28

3.17

1.2

3.17

3.57

1.4

3.03

1.43

3.6

1.2

3.03

1.2

3.13

1.2

2.57

0.96

2.8

1.3

3.07

1.21

3.2

1.2

Total:

3.02

1.18

3.28

1.2

2.7

1.04

3.97

0.9

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ELTA Journal • December 2014 • Volume 2, No. 2 7

3.3

1.29

4.13

1.2

2.97

1.28

3.8

1.1

3.87

1.02

4.43

0.7

3.13

1.15

4.13

1.1

Total:

3.19

1.16

4.09

3.2

1.05

4.03

0.8

3.87

1.23

4.37

1.3

2.83

1.27

3.4

1.5

3.73

1.09

4.77

0.5

2.63

1.28

4.7

0.6

Total:

3.25

1.18

4.25

0.9

4.6

0.84

4.57

0.6

4.77

0.5

4.6

0.8

4.2

0.95

4.53

0.7

3.83

4.37

0.9

4.5

0.72

4.1

0.9

4.27

0.89

4.13

0.9

Total:

4.36

0.82

4.38

0.8

What student responses in relation to age (Table 2) show is that there are differences in the students’ perception of Importance/Effort and Perceived Choice. University students try harder and it is more important for them to do well in their classes. Moreover, they feel that learning English is their choice more so than high school students do. This was somewhat expected due to the fact that the university students participating in the study are professional learners of English. Having this in mind, it is a bit surprising that one item in the Perceived Choice variable was rated only 3.4 (item 10), which shows that a certain number of them feel somewhat obligated to learn English. As far as other two variables are concerned, the results are virtually the same. It was expected that the results for Interest/Enjoyment would be more decisively in favor of university students, but this was not the case.

Table 3: Gender variation in student responses ITEM

Female student responses Male student responses MEAN

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MEAN

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ELTA Journal â&#x20AC;˘ December 2014 â&#x20AC;˘ Volume 2, No. 2 1

4.07

1.1

3.75

1.03

3.02

1.25

2.88

1.17

3.34

1.28

3.44

1.06

3.39

1.35

3.13

1.32

3.09

1.22

3.06

1.2

2.73

1.19

2.56

0.93

3.2

1.24

2.94

1.2

Total:

3.26

1.23

3.11

1.13

3.39

1.11

3.19

1.29

3.75

1.28

3.63

1.36

3.39

1.28

3.38

1.27

4.23

0.82

3.94

1.09

3.68

1.2

3.5

1.27

Total:

3.69

1.14

3.53

1.26

3.8

0.87

3.13

1.22

4.25

1.25

3.75

1.3

3.34

1.4

2.5

1.22

4.36

0.93

3.94

1.09

3.7

1.53

3.56

1.17

Total:

3.89

1.19

3.38

1.2

4.64

0.68

4.44

0.86

4.64

0.74

4.81

0.53

4.41

0.78

4.25

1.03

4.14

0.92

1.17

4.32

0.82

4.25

0.83

4.23

0.88

4.13

0.93

Total:

4.39

0.8

4.31

0.89

When it comes to gender variation (Table 3), we can see that women are more motivated than man regardless of the variable. However, differences between them are minimal. Therefore, a separate comparison of female high school and female university students and male high school and male university students was needed (Table 4). Indeed, this analysis provided some more relevant data. Namely, female university students are much more motivated than female high school students according to all the variables except Value / E-mail correspondence: newsletter.elta@gmail.com Copyright ELTA Journal 2014 www.eltajournal.org.rs

Page 33

ELTA Journal â&#x20AC;˘ December 2014 â&#x20AC;˘ Volume 2, No. 2 Usefulness, where the results are the same (mean 4.4). The results of male high school and university students are more similar. Female student responses High school University ITEM MEAN SD MEAN SD 1 3.4 1.2 4.6 0.56 8 2.7 1.27 3.3 1.17 12 2.9 0.89 3.7 1.43 17 2.8 1.44 3.9 1.05 20 2.9 1.11 3.3 1.27 21 2.6 0.97 2.9 1.33 23 3.1 1.24 3.3 1.21 Total: 2.9 1.16 3.6 1.15

1 8 12 17 20 21 23 Total:

2 7 11 13 14 Total:

2.7 3.3 2.8 4 3.1 3.2

1 1.27 1.17 0.95 1.12 1.1

4 4.1 3.9 4.4 4.2 4.1

0.84 1.17 1.17 0.64 1 0.96

2 7 11 13 14 Total:

2.7 3.3 3.3 3.6 3.3 3.24

1.1 1.3 1.4 1.1 1.2 1.2

4 4.17 3.5 4.5 3.83 4

1.15 1.21 0.96 0.76 1.34 1.09

3 6 10 16 18 Total:

3.5 4.2 2.9 3.8 2.3 3.3

0.92 1.06 1.18 1.08 1.19 1.09

4.1 4.3 3.7 4.8 4.9 4.4

0.7 1.37 1.46 0.37 0.33 0.85

3 6 10 16 18 Total:

2.7 3.3 2.7 3.6 3.3 3.12

1.1 1.3 1.4 1.1 1.2 1.2

3.83 4.5 2.17 4.5 4 3.8

1.07 0.76 0.69 0.76 1 0.86

4 5 9 15 19 22 Total:

4.6 4.8 4.2 3.9 4.5 4.4 4.4

0.8 0.43 0.75 0.83 0.74 0.8 0.73

4.7 4.5 4.6 4.3 4.2 4.1 4.4

0.54 0.91 0.76 0.94 0.87 0.91 0.82

4 5 9 15 19 22 Total:

4.7 4.8 4.2 3.7 4.6 4 4.33

0.9 0.6 1.2 1.3 0.7 1 0.9

4 4.83 4.33 4.5 3.67 4.33 4.28

0.58 0.37 0.47 0.76 0.75 0.75 0.61

ITEM

Male student responses High School University MEAN SD MEAN SD 3.6 1.1 4 0.82 3 1.3 2.67 0.94 3.7 1 3 1 3.5 1.3 2.5 1.12 3.4 1.3 2.5 0.76 2.6 0.9 2.5 0.96 3.1 1.1 2.67 1.25 3.27 1.1 2.83 0.98

not fun, efforts should be made to make 4.2. Discussion Relatively

low

Interest/Enjoyment

learning English an inherently pleasant results

for

the

process by introducing elements of fun to

variable

can

have

the curriculum. However, it is a positive

practical applications for professors and

sign

teachers who could use the results as

indicate that they feel that learning English

impetus to modify the existing curriculum.

is their choice to a greater degree than

In particular, because the majority of

high school students. At the same time, it

students rated English learning activities as

is somewhat peculiar that they show a very

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that

university

student

answers

Page 34

ELTA Journal • December 2014 • Volume 2, No. 2 high degree of extrinsic motivation. A

methodologies is that it is based on the

possible reason for this could be that they

assumption that students have conscious

believe English will form the basis of their

mental access to motivation, and Hannula

future careers, secure job opportunities,

showed that an individual has only partial

etc. In fact, one of the highest rated items

access to motivation (2006). A criticism

of the survey was Item 5, which indicated

more specifically related to this research

that all survey participants judged English

paper is that it is difficult to use the same

to be useful for traveling abroad.

self-report scale to measure motivation

Even though the distribution of students

across

developmental changes in students’ self-

representative of learning situations in real

concept and motivation. A longitudinal

life, a possible venue of future research

study of self-motivation may address these

would be to collect a larger sample of male

limitations.

student responses in order to get a more

The Intrinsic Motivation Inventory imposes

precise picture of the nature and levels of

certain limitations, as well. It contains items

their motivation.

such as “I believe/think/… that learning is

Paper-and-pencil self-report scales have

important”, which measure values rather

become the dominant method in studies of

than

student

the

students. Elliot and Murayama noted that

structure of the self-report consisting of

these items contain complex constructs

numerical scales offers the benefits of

whose analysis goes beyond the scope of

quick

the

gender

motivation.

variable

Even

administration

and

though

inferential

different

intentional

survey

age

groups

commitment

method

(2008).

due

the

Another

statistical analysis, this method is limited in

problem with these items is that different

focus. Namely, it considers only the

elements of them are subject to the

cognitive aspect of motivation and neglects

individual’s

affect-related factors, possibly due to the

Frijters, 2009). In addition, they observed

definition of motivation in relation to the

that self-reports usually merge the goals of

individual’s

and

an activity with the reasons for performing

main

an activity, even though different students

criticism of self-report scales is that it treats

may pursue the same goal for a different

motivation as a stable trait because there

reason. Furthermore, different researchers

are some lines of research that hold that

use dissimilar subscales on self-reports to

motivation is a fluid concept that changes

analyze same domains, and consequently,

across situations (Hidi et al, 1992). A more

there are scales that appear to be

general

equivalent but measure different domains,

Alexander,

character 2000).

criticism

(Murphy

Indeed,

the

self-report

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interpretation

(Fulmer

and

Page 35

ELTA Journal • December 2014 • Volume 2, No. 2 as

well.

For example, for

assessing

summarize, the self-report scale method

Gottfried

may be improved by combining it with

examined students’ curiosity, persistence,

alternative methods (some of which are

and desire to master challenging tasks

outlined in Fulmer and Frijters, 2009), but

(1986),

these

students’

general

and

preference

motivation,

Harter

for

assessed

challenge,

their

independent

judgment, and other (1981).

are

often

time-consuming

and

significantly reduce the objectivity of the results.

Because there are no tests that have proven

validity and

robust measures,

5. Conclusion

researchers tend to use non-published and

The results of this research show that there

modified self-report scales for assessing

are

motivation. This causes another issue;

motivation present among high school and

namely, some researchers give a new

university students. The results of this

name to a previously existing concept,

study should be used as indications of

which adds to terminological confusion and

possible tendencies to be researched in

decreases construct validity of self-report

the future and not as exhaustive data. It

scales. This is particularly true for the

was

concepts of self-concept, self-esteem, and

Interest/Enjoyment

self-efficacy. A very specific criticism of the

decisively in favor of university students,

numerical scale is that students’ select the

but this was not the case. The differences

middle value or the neutral response for

in motivation are minimal in relation to

various

indecision,

gender, even though female students show

disapproval, rebellion, and these may not

an increase of intrinsic motivation across

be related to the construct the item is

the age variable.

reasons

such

testing (Fulmer and Frijters, 2009).

generally

expected

low

levels

that

the

would

intrinsic

results be

for more

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Page 36

ELTA Journal • December 2014 • Volume 2, No. 2

References: Bakar, K. A., Sulaiman, N. F. & Rafaai, Z. A. M. (2010). Self-Determination Theory and Motivational Orientations of Arabic Learners: A Principal Component Analysis. GEMA Online™ Journal of Language Studies, 10/1, 71-86. Brophy, J. (2004). Motivating Students to learn. New Jersey: Lawrence Erbaum Associates. Deci, E. (1975). Intrinsic Motivation. New York: Plenum. Deci, E. & Ryan, R. (2000). The “What” and “Why” of Goal Pursuits: Human Needs and the Self-Determination of Behaviour. Psychological Inquiry, 11, 227-268. Elliot, A. J. & Murayama, K. (2008). On the measurement of achievement goals: Critique, illustration, and application. Journal of Educational Psychology, 100, 613–628. Fulmer, S. M. & Frijters, J. C. (2009). A review of self-report and alternative approaches in the measurement of student motivation. Educational Psychology Review, 21/3, 219-246. Gottfried, A. E. (1986). Manual for the children's academic intrinsic motivation inventory. Odessa: Psychological Assessment Resources Hannula, M. S. (2006). Motivation in mathematics: Goals reflected in emotions. Educational Studies in Mathematics, 63, 165–178. Harter, S. (1981). A new self-report scale of intrinsic versus extrinsic orientation in the classroom: Motivational and informational components. Developmental Psychology, 17, 300–312 Hidi, S., Renninger, K. A. & Krapp, A. (1992). The present state of interest research. In K. A. Renninger, S. Hidi& A. Krapp (Eds.), The role of interest in learning and development (pp. 433–447). Hillsdale: Erlbaum. McAuley, E. & Duncan, T. (1989). Psychometric Properties of the Intrinsic Motivation Inventory in a Competitive Sport Setting: A Confirmatory Factor Analysis. Research Quaterly for Exercise and Sport, 60/1, 48-58. Murphy, P. K. & Alexander, P. A. (2000).A motivated exploration of motivation terminology. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 25, 3–53. Noels, K. A., Pelletier, L. G., Clément, R. & Vallerand, R. J. (2000). Why are you learning a second language? Motivational orientations and self‐determination theory. Language learning, 50/1, 57-85. Noels, K. A., Clement, R. & Pelletier, L. G. (2001). Intrinsic, extrinsic, and integrative orientations of French Canadian learners of English. Canadian Modern Language Review/ La Revuecanadienne des languesvivantes, 57/3, 424-442. Topalov, J. (2011). Motivacija u nastavi stranog jezika. Novi Sad: Prosveta. E-mail correspondence: newsletter.elta@gmail.com Copyright ELTA Journal 2014 www.eltajournal.org.rs

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ELTA Journal • December 2014 • Volume 2, No. 2

***** Nina Ilić was born in Novi Sad in 1991. She graduated from the Faculty of Philosophy in Novi Sad with a degree in English language and literature in June 2014. She applied for master studies at the same college in October 2014. She is interested in teaching, theoretical and applied linguistics.

Aleksandra Oletić was born in Novi Sad in 1991. She earned her BA in English Language and Literature at the Faculty of Philosophy in Novi Sad. She enrolled in the Master’s Programme in Applied Linguistics at Stockholm University in Sweden, where she is pursuing her degree with a focus on interlanguage development, second language acquisition and inter-cultural pragmatics.

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Page 38

ELTA Journal • December 2014 • Volume 2, No. 2

Mediation in Peer Interaction among Chinese EFL Learners by Pramod Kumar Sah, Tribhuvan University, Nepal

Abstract It is widely accepted that classroom interaction, either between peers and a teacher or among learners facilitates students’ language learning. An individual learner can benefit from his/her peer(s) who are at higher level of competence through interaction. The most common proposition of the role of peer interaction is the mediation of understanding that helps them develop language competence by noticing the gap. This study examines the strategies adopted by the Chinese undergraduate level learners while mediating the understanding. The data has been generated from peer interaction while doing language classroom activities. In the interaction, the participants attempt to mediate the understanding about the language introduced to them and the activity they were asked to do. The study reveals that Chinese learners of English basically use repetition, first language, elaboration, paralinguistic signs, and contextual and real life instances in order to mediate their understanding. Key words: classroom interaction, Mediation of understanding, ZPD, paralinguistic signs Apstrakt Široko je prihvaćena činjenica da interakcija u učionici, bilo između vršnjaka ili nastavnika i učenika, olakšava učenje jezika. Učenik kao pojedinac može kroz interakciju imati koristi od svog vršnjaka koji poseduje viši nivo jezičkih kompetencija. Najčešća teza o ulozi vršnjačke interakcije je posredovanje u razumevanju koje im pomaže da razviju jezičke kompetencije primećujući leksičke praznine. Ova studija ispituje strategije koje su usvojili kineski preddiplomski učenici dok su posredovali u razumevanju. Podaci su generisani iz vršnjačke interakcije, tokom jezičkih aktivnosti u učionici. U interakciji, učesnici pokušavaju posredovati u razmevanju jezika kome su izloženi i zadatim aktivnostima. Istraživanje otkriva da kineski studenti engleskog jezika u osnovi koriste ponavljanje, maternji jezik, elaboraciju, paralingvističke znakove i kontekstualne i životne primere kako bi pospešili razumevanje.

Ključne reči: interakcija u učionici, medijacija razumevanja, ZPD, paralingvistički znaci

understanding. The techniques they use might

1. Introduction

differ according to contexts. To be specific, this It has been largely evidenced that it is not always

the

teachers

mediate

the

study attempts to discover the techniques Chinese EFL learners use in particular.

understanding among the learners. There are plenty of spaces where the learners can learn from other peers. However, the peer who mediates is believed to have higher level of competence in language. The mediator uses

2. Defining Mediation Mediation largely refers to the use of auxiliary objects or tools to execute an activity efficiently.

different techniques in order to mediate the E-mail correspondence: newsletter.elta@gmail.com Copyright ELTA Journal 2014 www.eltajournal.org.rs

Page 39

ELTA Journal • December 2014 • Volume 2, No. 2 It is the creation and use of artiﬁcial auxiliary

Following Oheta (2000), SCT believes that

means

and

language learners are not only as processers of

auxiliary

input or producers of output, they are rather

resources are used to do our tasks with ease.

speakers or hearers involved in developmental

Such auxiliary tools, in the physical world,

processes which are realized in interaction .The

include

dynamites,

rate of mental activity goes higher in humans in

bulldozers, etc. These tools greatly enhance

interactions when they enter into with other

human capacity to perform tasks with ease and

members

less effort. In particular, we use shovels to dig

McCormick, 1994). Watanbe (2008) seems to

the ground that makes our job easier than

believe the Vygotsky’s (1978) principle that

digging with our hand. Here, shovels function

learning comes from social mediation as he

as mediators to perform tasks efficiently.

also states that knowledge and cognition are

Identically, such auxiliary tools are also used in

built through social interaction. Vygotsky’s SCT

social and physical worlds, in which the tools

of mind points out that concept appears

such as numbers, graphs, models, drawings

through dynamic interaction by shaping and

and linguistic symbols are used for efficient

transforming each other in an interconnected

performance. In addition, in communication we

system. Consequently, language development

broadly use linguistic symbols while interacting

is intrinsically a social process (Apple and

with other interlocutors (Lantolf and Throne,

Lantolf, 1994). Learning a language supports

2006, Karpov & Hayward, 1998). In this regard,

cognitive development in a human being since

language is one of the most important symbolic

it mediates interaction between two humans,

systems for the mediation of human mental

one with comparative more knowledge to

activity (Lantolf, 2009).

support another person (Vygotsky, 1986).

mentally

acting

(Lantolf,

physically, 2009).

hammers,

socially

These

shovels,

(Lantolf,

2009

and

Donato

The next view of SCT believes that language

3. Theoretical Orientation

development takes place in the context of collaborative activities (Vygotsky, 1978). Van Lier (1996, p.171) supports the thesis as “in

The development of mediation is the core

order to learn, a person must be active”.

feature of the socio cultural theory (SCT) of

Language development does not continue as

Vygotsky (1986). The basic principle of SCT is

an unfolding of inborn capacities, rather it is the

that all types of human cognitive and emotional

transformation of innate capacities as they are

activities that refer to learning a language are

linked

mediated by psychological tools such as

meditational tools (Lantolf and Pavlenko, 1995).

language, signs and symbols (Karpov and Hayward, 1998). To put it other way, when a person interacts with other interlocutors and artefacts, his/her behaviour is mediated by sign/ symbol system (Swain et al., 2011) and (Van Lier, 2000).

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socio

culturally

constructed

Mediation can be of different types but useful mediation must be linked to learners’ zone of proximal development (ZPD) (Lantolf, 2009). ZPD refers to the gap between the real developmental

level

and

the

potential

developmental level that a learner can achieve

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ELTA Journal • December 2014 • Volume 2, No. 2 with support from others with higher level in

characteristics that a learner possesses and

course of interaction (Vygotsky, 1978). This

the actual activities the learner undertakes; as

shows that a mediator needs to know what an

a consequence, what is unachievable alone

individual can acquire with support or additional

becomes achievable (Lantolf, 2009).

mediation. The ZPD is related to the different

a. The mediator must have clue for

4. Peer interaction

the

communicative

intention

his/her peer’s speech.

Peer interaction is a broadly used technique in that

b. The mediator should be able to

promotes learning by mediating it. It is only

monitor the behaviour of the peers

myth to say learning does not take place in the

to ensure that they have got the

absence of experts. Lantolf (2009) advocates

message.

language

teaching

and

learning

that learning does not always emerge from

c. The mediator

expert, it can even occur in the absence of

strategy

experts.

understanding

Dialogues

interaction

among

learners can be as effective as the instructional

must

that

opt

for

ensures of

the

real

message

conveyed.

conversations between learners and experts

d. The mediator should address the

(Swain, 1995). In this regard, Lantolf (2009)

peers that strategy.

claims that learners can scaffold each other more efficiently by using interactive strategies that are sensitive to their ZPD.

5. Related Research

Stressing on the learning originated through peer interaction, Olmendo (2003) argues that a group member in a peer interaction (as a mediator) can judge the understanding of other peers and facilitates comprehension. They produce scaffolding to other peers to enhance communication and understanding. A language learner can make the most of the affordances (Van Lier, 2000) or occasions for learning (Swain & Lapkin, 1998) that are often made available by the peers in the interaction. Olmedo (2003) suggests the following steps for the participation in the language mediation role in peer interactions.

large

amount

research

has

been

conducted on classroom interaction, most of which is on a group and pair work. These studies

usually

focus

the

linguistic

interactions that occur between the participants of the same group (Long, 1983). Almost all the studies

have

evidenced

their

findings

reference to Vygotsky’s (1986) theory of cognitive development that basically refers to the knowledge constructed through interactions between individuals within society. The findings of some research have outlined the general strategies that the learners use in mediation while interacting with others.

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Page 41

ELTA Journal • December 2014 • Volume 2, No. 2 Olmedo

(2003)

based

his

research

of the subject through interaction with students.

investigate the strategies adopted by learners

His findings showed that teachers can mediate

to mediate understanding in English. The study

language learning in a number of ways such as

showed that the learners use different types of

mode shifting through recasting, signifying the

strategies to mediate understanding such as,

need for reformulation, signalling to learners’

translation,

paraphrasing,

code-switching,

ways

scaffolding

verbal

individual knowledge.

providing

cues,

paralinguistic cues, modelling the behaviour, providing situational cues and interpreting contextual and situational cues.

formulate

and

recontextualising

In particular to Chinese context, Gao’s (2010, p.69) data supports the argument that “the participants experience of learning English and

With regard to peer’s assistance in learning a

strategy use were mediated by their interaction

language, Watanbe (2008), in a research on

with peers, although their learning of English

peer interaction, evidenced that both the higher

was largely done in isolation”. Cheng (2000) as

and the lower proficiency peers could provide

cited in Gao (2010) also finds that in learning

opportunities for learning when they work

process,

collaboratively.

(2002)

interaction with other English language learners

researched four different patterns of interaction

at schools and universities in light of the strong

culture for mutual collaboration among other

pair

works

Identically,

that

Storch

include:

collaborative,

expert/novice, dominant/dominant and expert/

Chinese

students

participate

Chinese learners.

passive. The findings of the study showed that

6. Methodology

language learning takes place more effectively in pairs when the activity is done collaboratively

6.1. Objectives of the study

or if the interaction is organized between an

The purpose of this study is to investigate the

expert and novice. Similarly, Swain (2000), in

strategies Chinese learners of English adopt to

his

mediate understanding while taking part in peer

study

collaborative

dialogue

(the

dialogue in which all the learners take active

interactions.

role and engage with each other’s ideas), suggested that when learners involve in collaborative dialogues, they complete a task

6.2. Subjects

and construct their knowledge. Moreover,

The subjects of the study were Chinese

Donato’s (1994) research also demonstrated that

the

university

level

students

can

collectively build scaffolding for each other’s performance in a collaborative interaction.

learners of English who were undertaking undergraduate course in International Business Communication at the Shanghai University of International

Business

and

Economics,

Correspondingly, Gibbons (2003) focused on

Shanghai, China. The study was conducted

the ways how the teachers tend to mediate

while those students were taking a short EAP

between the students’ present linguistic level in

course. Three different groups were formed

English and their understanding of the content

comprising of lower and higher level learners

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Page 42

ELTA Journal • December 2014 • Volume 2, No. 2 and their interactions were observed while they were doing the tasks.

This

6.3. Method

source of data that was elicited from classroom activities while the participants were attending a short EAP course. As already stated, three specific groups were formed that included both lower and higher level of learners. While they were asked to do classroom activities, primarily grammar based exercises, the interaction between lower and higher level learners was observed without giving any clue to them of observed.

informed

section

accounts

for the

classroom

interaction of the students in which they tend to

This research is largely based on the primary

being

6.4. Analysis

The

learners

were

not

that they were being observed

mediate their understanding in various ways. Based

the

researcher’s

journals,

attempts to analyse the language used by the students in order figure out the strategies that the

students

used

while

mediating

their

understanding. The following are different interactions of the students. Task 1 (Talk to your partner. What was the last plan you cancelled? Why did you cancel it? When was the last time you did something even though you didn’t feel like it?)

because they might have acted differently. In other words, Mackey and Gass (2005, p. 187) call this limitation as “The Hawthorne Effect” when the participants act differently upon their

Mediation 1 Li: What is ‘cancel’? Lao: Means ....(.......) (Chinese word).

knowledge of being observed. This is one of the reasons that the researcher did not opt for

Li: Ok. Um....what I should write?

recording the interaction, and other being the

Lao: Ok...suppose. You had decided to go on

case that observation is a good tool for

shopping and.... it was raining....... but

gathering in-depth information about activates,

you didn’t cancel your plan.

interactions,

instructions

that

occur

Li: Ok...I understood.

classroom (Mackey and Gass, 2005). The teacher being the researcher observed the

Mediation 2

strategies used by the higher level learner while

Yang: Chen ...which language to use?

mediating comprehension to the lower level learners. However, it does not seem to be possible to take over the lesson and keep everything

noticed

the

memory

simultaneously. So, the researcher maintained journal writing for four different lessons to draw valid conclusion.

Chen:

Teacher

told.....um....language

contrast. Yang: Con-? Chen: Contrast. (Modified pronunciation) Wang: How? Chen: We can use ‘despite’. Wang: Oh..like he said.

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Page 43

ELTA Journal • December 2014 • Volume 2, No. 2 In the excerpts above, it can be noticed that all

Peng: Ok....um..look at sentence. Which word

the

is before despite?

participants

work

collaboratively

comprehend the task, so it is a collaborative

Kong: Um..use

dialogue (Swain, 2000). In mediation 1, Loa has higher level of competence, and so does he try to mediate understanding to Li. At the beginning, the first technique Lao used is

Zhai: So, this is follow despite? Peng: Yes, you’re right. Kong: Ok...a recall is follow?

Chinese language (participants’ first language) to make Li understand the meaning of the word

Peng: Yeah.

‘cancel’. At the same time, Li asked for clues to

Mediation 4:

write the answer. Lao attempts to explain the task by giving a real life and contextual

Peng: Have you noticed? ....There is doing word after despite!

example. Kong: Yeah, you mean ‘riding’ in sentence 2? Correspondingly, in mediation 2, Chen being better

known

than

others

mediates

comprehension. It can be seen that when Yang is unable to understand the pronunciation, Chen pronounces the word ‘contrast’. Chen

Peng: Yes. Zai: Then, what is the meaning? Peng: This is showing contrast.

tends to repeat the word with modified

Zai: What is contrast?

pronunciation to mediate understanding and it

Peng:

works.

something....opposite idea.

As a result, it can be analyzed that Chinese

Kong: I didn’t understand.

learners of English use the techniques such as first

language,

pronunciation,

and

repetition, real

and

modified contextual

Um..means

contrast

Peng: (..........) (uses Chinese language) Zai: Oh, I got it.

examples to mediate understanding.

Having a look at the mediation 3, Kong does

Task 2

not know the meaning of follow and precede in

(The students were given a set of corpus data to work on in order to find the pattern and use of the discourse marker ‘despite’. They had to find out the patters that follow and precede ‘despite’, and to construct sentences based on the patterns.)

the task. In this concern, Peng tries to mediate the meaning through elaborating the concept by

getting

their

peers

raise

their

consciousness at the same time. As a result of peer interaction, both Kong and Zhai seem to have understood the meaning. This indicates that their peer is able to offer them opportunity

Mediation 3:

for learning (Wantabe, 2008 & Stroch, 2002).

Kong: What he mean to say follow and proceed

Next, in mediation 4, Kong asks Peng to tell her

despite?

the meaning of the term ‘contrast’. Initially, Peng tries to mediate meaning by defining the

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Page 44

ELTA Journal â&#x20AC;˘ December 2014 â&#x20AC;˘ Volume 2, No. 2 term but Kong does not seem to understand

The results can be interpreted in terms of

the meaning. Then, he explains the concept in

Vygotskyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s theory of cognitive development.

Chinese language. This reveals the fact that

These

the mediator feels easy to translate into their L1

cognitive tool to make and shape meaning

after s/he fails to mediate through other

(Swain,2006),

techniques. However, using L1 is only possible

mediate their understanding. The researcher

in monolingual classrooms.

noticed that the participants involved in task

Despite they produce grammatically incorrect utterances, they are able to communicate with ease and the mediator is able to mediate the comprehension among his/her peers using techniques such as repetition, first language, elaboration, paralinguistic signs, and contextual and real life instances in order to mediate their

collaboratively

using

language

have helped the participants

and

co-constructed

the

understanding, which is also evidenced by the interaction

patterns.

The

knowledge

was

subsequently appropriated and internalized by the members of the group through mediation. The mediators were able to provide support to their peers during the interaction (Donato, 1994 and

understanding.

techniques,

Webb,

1989)

and

facilitate

the

understanding to their peers (Olmendo, 2003 and Webb, 1989). To put it other way, they were capable of scaffolding each other quite

7. Conclusion

efficiently using different strategies and learning The analysis based on the interaction that occurred among the Chinese peers in the class specifies that they use different strategies to mediate comprehension (Olmendo, 2003). The key strategies the Chinese EFL learners use include: repetition, first language, elaboration, paralinguistic signs, and contextual and real life instances

order

mediate

their

occurred through those strategies (Lantolf, 2009). More significantly, from a pedagogical perspective, the finding of this study might also suggest that learning seems to take place when students

get

the

opportunity

work

collaboratively and a learning strategy that an individual develops while working in group may assist their future learning.

understanding

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Page 45

ELTA Journal • December 2014 • Volume 2, No. 2

References: Appel, G. and Lantolf, J. Speaking as mediation: A study of Li and L2 recall tasks. The Modern Language Journal, 78(1994): 437-452. Brooks,

al..

Mediating

between

scientific

and

spontaneous

concepts

through

languaging. Language Awareness,19 (2010): 9-110. Donato, R. Collective scaffolding in second language learning.Vygotskian approaches to second language research, (1994): 33456. Donato, R. and McCormick, D. A sociocultural perspective on language learning strategies: The role of mediation. The Modern Language Journal, 78 (1994): 453-464. Gao, X. Strategic language learning: the role of agency and context. Bristol: Multilingual Matters, (2010). Gibbons, P. Mediating language learning: Teacher interactions with ESL students in a content based classroom. Tesol Quarterly, 37(2003): 247-273. Karpov, Y. V. and Haywood, H. C. Two ways to elaborate Vygotsky's concept of mediation. American Psychologist, 53 (1998): 27. Lantolf, J. P. Sociocultural theory and L2: State of the art. Studies in second language acquisition, 28(2006): 67-109. Lantolf, J. P. Second language learning as a mediated process. Language teaching, 33(2009): 79-96. Lantolf, J.P. The sociocultural approach to second language acquisition. In Dwight, A. (Ed) Alternative approaches to second language acquisition. London, New York: Routledge,2011. Lantolf, J. P., & Pavlenko, A. Sociocultural theory and second language acquisition. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics, 15(1995): 108-124. Long, M. H. Native speaker/non-native speaker conversation and the negotiation of comprehensible input. Applied Linguistics, 4(1983): 126–141. Mackey, A. and Gass, S. Second language research: methodology and design. London: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Publishers,2005. Ohta, A.S. Rethinking interaction in SLA: Developmentally appropriate assistance in the zone of proximal development and the acquisition of L2 grammar. In J.P. Lantolf (Ed.), Sociocultural theory and second language learning (pp. 51–78). Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000. Olmedo, I.M. Language mediation among emergent bilingual children. Linguistics and education, 14 (2003): 143-162 Storch, N. Patterns of interaction in ESL pair work. Language learning,52 (2002): 119-158. E-mail correspondence: newsletter.elta@gmail.com Copyright ELTA Journal 2014 www.eltajournal.org.rs

Page 46

ELTA Journal • December 2014 • Volume 2, No. 2 Swain, M. Three functions of output in second language learning. In G. Cook & B. Seidlhofer (eds.), Principle & practice in applied linguistics. Studies in Honour of H. G.Widdowson, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1995: 125-44. Swain, M. The output hypothesis and beyond: Mediating acquisition through collaborative dialogue. Sociocultural theory and second language learning, 97,(2000). 114. Swain, M., & Lapkin, S. Interaction and second language learning: Two adolescent French immersion students working together. The Modern Language Journal, 82 (1998): 320-337. Swain, M, et al.

Languaging: University students learn the grammatical concept of voice in

French. The Modern Language Journal, 93 (2009): 5-29. Van Lier, L. Interaction in the language curriculum: Awareness, autonomy and authenticity. London: Longman, 1996. Van

Lier,

From

input

affordance:

Social-interactive

learning

from

ecological

perspective. Sociocultural theory and second language learning, (2000): 245- 259. Vygotsky, L.S. Mind in society. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1978. Vygotsky, L. Thought and language. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1986. Watanabe, Y. Peer–peer interaction between L2 learners of different proficiency levels: Their interactions and reflections. Canadian Modern Language Review/La Revue canadienne des langues vivantes, 64 (2008):605-635. Webb, N. M. Peer interaction and learning in small groups. International journal of Educational research, 13 (1989):21-39.

***** Pramod Kumar Sah is a Non-native EFL teacher from Nepal. He earned a Master’s Degree in Education, specialization in English Language from Tribhuvan University, Nepal, and a Master of Arts Degree in TESOL with Applied Linguistics from the University of Central Lancashire, UK. He began his career as a school level EFL teacher and later worked as a Lecturer for an affiliated college of Tribhuvan University, Nepal. In addition, he worked as TV presenter in Nepal. After his mover to the UK, he was invited as a guest lecturer in a Chinese university and later worked as part-time teacher at the University of Central Lancashire.He is particularly interested in corpus-driven language learning and has investigated into the effectiveness of Data-driven learning (DDL). He has authored a couple of books namely ‘Academic Writing’ and ‘English for Mass Communication’, and has presented and published papers at national and international level.

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Page 47

ELTA Journal â&#x20AC;˘ December 2014 â&#x20AC;˘ Volume 2, No. 2

Teaching Collocations in a Second Language: Why, What and How? by Zorana Vasiljevic, Bunkyo University, Japan Abstract Although there is little doubt that collocation knowledge is crucial for fluent language use, collocations often do not receive sufficient attention, either inside or outside the language classroom. While more recent EFL textbooks include some collocation work, this work is rarely systematic and the associated activities are often too few. Due to curriculum constraints and time pressure, teachers are frequently not in a position to create supplementary collocation study materials, and as collocations usually do not pose comprehension problems, they may opt not to attend to them at all. Furthermore, collocations may present a challenge for instructors. While they may have a good command of grammatical patterns and a large receptive vocabulary, they may lack confidence when it comes to selection of syntagmatic phrases or advising students about acceptable word combinations in the target language. Learners, for their part, are often not even aware of the significance of collocation knowledge. They tend to identify vocabulary learning with an expansion of vocabulary size, and they perceive knowledge of difficult or specialized words as an indicator of language progress. As a result, they often focus on memorising long, decontextualized word lists, and they seldom pay attention to how these words are actually used. This paper will review some major findings that have emerged from collocation studies in corpus and applied linguistics, and it will offer some suggestions for possible applications of these findings in the language classroom. Special attention will be given to the criteria for the selection of target collocations, and the activities that may help bridge the gap between the learnersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; receptive and productive vocabulary knowledge. Finally, some ideas about how student autonomy in collocation learning could be fostered will be shared.

Key words: collocation teaching activities and tests, online corpora, learner autonomy

Apstrakt Premda kljucne za tecnu upotrebu jezika, kolokacijama se ne poklanja dovolno paznje ni u ucionici ni izvan nje. Iako noviji udzbenici za ucenje engleskog ukljucuju neke aktivnosti za vezbu kolokacija, one su nesistematicne i nedovoljne. Zbog programskih obaveza i nedostatka vremena, profesori cesto nisu u mogucnosti da pripreme dodatne materijale, i kako poznavanje kolokacija obicno nije kljucno za razumevanje teksta, one su ponekad i potpuno eliminisane iz programa. Dodatni razlog za njihovu eliminaciju je i to sto kolokacije cesto predstavljaju teskoce i za same profesore.Uprkos dobrom vladanja gramatikom i poznavanja velikog broja reci, nije neobicno da i profesori imaju nedoumica kad je u pitanju izbor sintagmatskih izraza ili upucivanje studenata ka pravom izboru reci na stranom jeziku. Studenti, sa druge strane, cesto nisu ni svesni koliko je poznavanje kolokacija vazno. Oni poistovecuju ucenje vokabulara sa povecanjem broja reci i veruju da je poznavanje teskih reci ili specijalizovanih izraza dokaz njihovog napretka.Rezultat je njihovo koncentrisanje na memorizaciju dugih, nekontekstualizovanih lista reci i nedovoljno paznje posvecene njihovoj upotrebi.

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Page 48

ELTA Journal • December 2014 • Volume 2, No. 2 Ovaj clanak sumira neka od vaznijih saznanja iz studija kolokacija u okviru korpusne I primenjene lingvistike, i upucuje na nacine na koje bi se ona mogla primeniti u jezickim institucijama. Posebna paznja je posvecena kriterijumima za selekciju kolokacija za direktnu nastavu i aktivnostima kojima bi se mogao smanjiti procep izmedju pasivnog i aktivnog vokabulara. Clanak takodje izlaze ideje za podsticanje studentske autonomije u ucenju kolokacija. Ključne reči: poducavanje i testiranje kolokacija, elektronski korpus, autonomija studenata

Introduction:

The

notion

constituents within a span are by no

collocations

means uniform and clear-cut, and a wide

One feature common to natural languages

range of classification schemes have been

is that words tend to occur together with a

developed. Handl (2009) identifies three

restricted set of other words. These

dimensions along which collocations can

frequently co-occurring word strings are

be classified:1) semantic, 2) lexical and 3)

known as collocations. A collocation is a

statistical.

phrase which consists of the focus item

collocations

known as the node or the base, a co-

transparency. As can be seen from the

occurring word or the collocate, and the

examples below, while the meanings of

span, which is an environment in which

some

the node and the collocate co-occur. The

matches that of the component words,

relationships

other phrases are highly idiomatic.

between

the

phrase

differ

phrases

semantic in

are

their

level,

level

transparent

and

Table 1. Examples of collocations of different levels of transparency (based on Reveir, 2009) Transparent

Semi-transparent

Non-transparent

Example 1:

make tea

make a complaint

make the grade

Example 2

take the money

take a course

take sides

Some researchers (e.g. Reveir, 2009) argue that semantic transparency affects

On the lexical level, collocations differ with

how

processed.

regard to the number of words that

According to Reveir (2009), transparent

particular phrase components tend to

collocations

processed

collocate with. While some words have a

compositionally (i.e. as separate items),

large number of syntagmatic associations,

and their use is linked to general lexical

others have a highly restricted use (e.g. a

and grammatical knowledge. However, the

slice of bacon vs. a rasher of bacon).

use

the

collocations tend

are be

semi-transparent

transparent

collocation

and

non-

requires

the

On the statistical level, collocations can be

phrases to be stored and accessed as

analyzed with regard to their combined

holistic units.

frequency as well as the frequency of the

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ELTA Journal • December 2014 • Volume 2, No. 2 phrase constituents. The ratio between the

reducing the processing load of both

two frequencies reveals the strength of the

speakers and hearers alike (Halliday,

collocation

the

1966).Native speakers notice, process

phrase

and store formulaic word sequences as a

and

attraction

the

direction

between

the

constituents.

whole, and that allows them to take advantage of language idiomaticity during

Collocations also differ in terms of the

language comprehension and gives them

level of substitutability of their combinatory

fluency

elements (Howarth, 1998a). While some

(Pawley & Syder, 1983; Wray 2002).

phrases are characterized by a relatively

Collocations are also important because

high

the

they define the meaning of individual

constituent words, others tend to be more

words and phrases or, as Firth (1957:179)

restricted, as can be seen from the

famously put it, “You shall know a word by

following examples: blow a trumpet (free

the company it keeps.” In other words, the

combination), blow a fuse (restricted

sense of a lexical item and its functional

collocation),

trumpet

value are defined through its use and

(figurative idiom), blow the gaff (pure

through the relationships it forms with

idiom) (Howarth, 1998b)

other words in a specific situational

level

commutability

blow

your

own

during

language

production

context (e.g. run a marathon vs. run a As can be seen from the examples above,

shop vs. run a risk).

the concept of collocation covers a large number of multiword chunks of different

However, while collocation knowledge is

compositional

an essential component of communicative

structure,

associative

strength and semantic transparency.

competence, collocations also pose one of the

biggest

challenges

for

second

2. WHY should collocations be taught?

language learners even at very advanced

One of the most important tasks that

stages of language proficiency (Arnaud &

language learners face is acquiring an

Savignon, 1997; Barfield, 2009; Howarth,

extensive

1998a, 1998b).

vocabulary.

Collocation

knowledge is one of the most important properties

lexical

competence.

There are several reasons why collocation

Language is phrasal in its nature, and

development

collocations represent building blocks of

process. One problem is that collocational

spoken and written discourse (Wray,

restrictions

2002). They facilitate communication by

semantic

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slow and

are not compatibility

difficult

imposed by the of

the

phrase

Page 50

ELTA Journal • December 2014 • Volume 2, No. 2 constituents but by the norms of language

(2009) found that about two-thirds of 75

use. Knowledge of collocations is not the

Chinese students she surveyed had never

same as the knowledge of the phrase

done any collocation-focused vocabulary

component parts. Even advanced learners

practice. Similarly, due to limitations of

may experience difficulty in using common

space,

delexical verbs such as ‘make’ and ‘take’,

extended

although they are familiar with their

learner dictionaries, despite the great

meaning (Nesselhauf, 2003).

progress that has been made in corpus

lexicographers collocational

cannot

include

information

studies in recent years. Another problem is that learners often do not

recognize

Lack of awareness combined with a lack

2009;

of attention to collocational phrases may

Laufer 2005; Peters 2007).One reason for

significantly impede learners’ progress.

this may be the fact that collocations tend

The inability to recognize collocations

means

collocation

pose

the

importance

knowledge

little

(Jiang,

difficulty

language

Learners

often

underestimate the difference

between

comprehension. receptive

and

learners

cannot

take

advantage of the lexical priming in the natural

discourse.

Words

that

they

vocabulary

encounter in the text do not generate any

knowledge, and they assume that if they

expectations for them, which significantly

understand the words, they will be able to

increases the pressure on their working

use them as well. As a result, many

memory and slows down their processing

students

vocabulary

of the input (Siyanova & Schmitt, 2008).

learning with the acquisition of new words,

Lack of collocation competence also

and they fail to pay sufficient attention to

causes

collocational relationships in the input.

production. Languages differ in the range

tend

productive

that

identify

problems

during

language

of acceptable combinatory choices of Insufficient

attention

given

word

phrase

constituents.

For

example,

combinations during class instruction and

according to the Oxford Collocations

limited coverage of syntagmatic phrases in

Dictionary for Students of English (2002),

the reference books are also some

some common verb collocates of the noun

reasons why L2 collocations are difficult to

decision are make, take, arrive at, come to

acquire. Due to curricular constraints and

and

time pressure, many teachers find it

‘decision’ collocates with ‘do’ (kettsui

difficult to integrate collocation instruction

/kesshin/kettei + suru). Spanish allows

in regular classes. For example, Jiang

take but not do or make (tomar decisión),

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reach.

Japanese,

however,

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ELTA Journal • December 2014 • Volume 2, No. 2 while in Serbian decision collocates with

Collocations Dictionary for Students of

bring (doneti odluku). Due to the lack of

English (2002) includes about 150,000

awareness and L1 interference, learners’

collocations, and that list is far from being

attempts to “re-assemble” individual items

exhaustive. In the limited class time

often result in erroneous, unnatural or

available, teachers have to be highly

oversimplified

2000;

selective with regard to the phrases that

Schmitt, 2004; Singleton, 1999; Wray,

will become the focus of class instruction.

2002; Yang & Hendricks, 2004).

One common criterion for collocation

output

(Lewis,

selection is their frequency of occurrence The findings above suggest that if learners

in the corpus. Developments in computer

are to benefit from the reduced processing

technology have enabled the analysis of

load,

very large language corpora making it

fluency

and

idiomaticity

that

collocation knowledge offers, they must

possible

learn to approach L2 vocabulary as a

comprehensive data on the frequency of a

network.

instruction

particular word combination in the natural

should aim at helping students learn to

language. There are a number of online

process, store and retrieve word strings

corpora available to language teachers

holistically,

than

and researchers. Some of the biggest

assembling them at the production stage.

ones are the 100 million-word British

For this purpose, it is necessary to have a

National Corpus (BNC) and the 450

systematic and comprehensive analysis of

million-word

common word combinations in native

American English (COCA). Both corpora

speakers’ corpora, and develop effective

include a large collection of samples of

teaching strategies that would make these

written and spoken language from a wide

combinations more accessible to language

range of sources. The corpora websites

learners. The next section will examine the

offer a number of useful features such as

problem of the selection of collocations for

search by word or phrase, by lemma, or

targeted teaching.

by a part of speech, and they enable the

This means that

chunks,

rather

for

researchers

Corpus

obtain

Contemporary

users to perform an analysis of word 3. WHAT should be taught?

frequencies, collocates, and distribution of

The sheer number of collocations and

synonyms in different types of texts, as

their pervasiveness in natural language

well as indifferent time periods. These

pose challenges in terms of setting the

corpora have served as a basis for a large

learning goals and in terms of choosing

number

the

throughout the world, and have permitted

learning

priorities.

The

Oxford

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research

publications

Page 52

ELTA Journal • December 2014 • Volume 2, No. 2 the development of authentic teaching

introduction into how corpora could be

materials and resources.

used for research purposes. As the

The

COCA

corpus

research

interfaces

are

similar,

the

(http://corpus.byu.edu/coca), from which

tutorials will also come in useful in the

the examples in this paper are taken, is

search of other corpora.

balanced between five different text types: spoken, fiction, magazine, newspaper and

This paper will now examine more closely

academic, allowing a comparison of word

how corpora like COCA could be used to

frequencies and use in different contexts.

facilitate

There are four basic search functions: 1)

collocation knowledge of second language

LIST which shows a list of words or word

learners. COCA contains the largest and

combinations ranked according to their

one

frequency; 2) CHART which allows a

collocations currently available, with about

comparison of frequencies in different

4.3 million node/ collocate pairs extracted

genres or time periods; 3) KWIC (Key

from

Word in Context) which displays search

Collocation data can be of use in various

words in context with colour-coding for

strands of linguistic research such as the

different parts of speech, and 4) the

analysis of syntactic patterns, pragmatics,

COMPARE

semantic prosody, and sociolinguistic and

comparison of two words according to

discourse analysis. One way to search

their general frequency or with their

collocations in COCA is to type in the

specific collocates. A variety of search

target word in the search field followed by

options available to researchers goes

a tag for the specific part of speech. For

beyond the scope of this paper, but for

example, in order to search for which

readers who are interested in learning

prepositions

more, the three COCA tutorials shared

similar they should type in the following

online

search string: similar [i*], where [i*] stands

option

which

Professor

allows

David

Brown

(http://www.thegrammarlab.com/?page_id =15)

present

excellent

the

development

most

450

accurate

million-word

lists

the

corpus.

can follow the adjective

for “all prepositions”.

general

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Page 53

ELTA Journal • December 2014 • Volume 2, No. 2

Figure 1. Searching collocations in COCA using the basic search field The results show the most frequent collocates of ‘similar’ and their frequency of occurrence.

Figure 2. Most common prepositions that collocate with similar and their corpus frequencies

A click on the particular collocation provides concordance data, that is, the keywords displayed in context. Concordance data includes information about the year in which when the phrase was used, the text-type and the sub-genre from which the phrase was extracted.

Figure 3. A sample of concordances similar to

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Page 54

ELTA Journal • December 2014 • Volume 2, No. 2 This analysis can be extended by using the KWIC option, which displays search words in context using a colour code for different parts of speech. Another way to search collocations in COCA is by entering a word string in the search field (e.g. similar to) and then use the COLLOCATES function to take advantage of additional search options. The COLLOCATES function, for instance, makes it possible to set the collocation range. For research purposes, the span is conventionally set at + 4, that is four orthographic words to the left or to the right of the node, as this is a distance at which 95% of collocational influences have been found to occur (Jones & Sinclair, 1974). This span, however, can be modified depending on the research question that we are trying to answer.

Figure 4. Collocation search with COLLOCATES option COLLOCATES search can also be useful when users are not sure which word might be suitable in a particular phrase, but they are aware of the part of speech that they are looking for. For example, a learner may not know a suitable preposition for a sentence “I am going to Cuba _______ Christmas break”. COCA has a so-called ‘wildcard’ search option that allows the user to search for a specific phrase collocates by part of speech only. Typing Christmas break in the WORD box and selecting “prepALL” tag in the POS LIST shows that during and over may be good choices in this context.

COCA can also help learners adjust their level of formality. For example, if we enter the phrase ‘You’re kidding ‘and select the CHART option, we will get the following results:

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Page 55

ELTA Journal • December 2014 • Volume 2, No. 2

Figure 5. Collocation distribution analysis by text type The bar chart clearly shows that ‘You’re kidding ‘is most likely to occur in fiction and spoken language and is rarely found in journalistic publications or academic work. The use of the COMPARE button allows a comparison of collocates of two different words at the same time. This function can help learners to select a more common collocate of a particular word. For example, if a learner wants to know whether it is better to say reduce stressor decrease stress, he/she should select COMPARE, enter reduce and decrease in the search fields, type stress in the COLLOCATES box, set the collocate range and click on SEARCH. In the example given below, the range was set at 0:4, which means that collocates should appear within 4 word slots after the search words.

Figure 6. Collocation search with COMPARE option A COCA search produced the following results.

Figure 7. Results of collocate search in COCA using COMPARE option

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Page 56

ELTA Journal • December 2014 • Volume 2, No. 2 The word reduce (W1) was used 410

learners’

times, while decrease (W2) was used only

common and useful collocations that can

help

times.

Therefore,

learner

can

dictionaries

learners

today

improve

their

include fluency,

conclude that reduce would be a better

precision and naturalness of expression.

choice.

Useful

Some

limitations

are

typically

corpora-based

highlighted in bold type tomake them more

collocation research are that the results

salient. In some learners’ dictionaries such

obtained are based only on the statistical

as the Cambridge Advanced Learner’s

probability of particular words occurring

Dictionary

within a certain span. The data reveals

grouped in semantic sets making it easier

little about the degree of opacity and the

for the learner to select the appropriate

substitutability

combinatory

word combinations. The CD-ROM version

formulaic

of the CALD dictionary also has a special

sequences. Computation scores do not

collocation search option which allows

account for homonymy and polysemy and

learners

the

elements

figures

collocations

the particular

quickly

access

are

detailed

the

information about the collocates of the

the

headword quickly. The collocates are

extracted text. Nevertheless, there is no

grouped by part of speech and followed by

doubt that online corpora can be a very

examples of usage. The entries also

useful tool in foreign language instruction.

include information about the formality

Computer-based corpora such as COCA,

level of individual expressions aimed at

allow teachers to select the phrases that

helping learners select the appropriate

should be given priority, and present

language register.

learners

with

contextualized

little

collocations

about

phraseological

tell

(CALD),

significance

large

examples

number as

well

of as

The problem, however, is that due to the

quantitative data that can help them to

limited

make better syntactic and stylistic choices.

information seldom

amount in

space;

general

presented

collocation

dictionaries detailed

is and

4. HOW should collocations be taught?

systematic way. Sometimes, there is no

4.1 Dictionary training

clear division between the literal and

Like online corpora, dictionaries can also

extended meanings (Revier, 2009), and

be a very useful tool in collocation

learners are left to decide for themselves

learning.

which of the word combinations that they

explanations

addition and

grammatical

meaning notes,

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Page 57

ELTA Journal • December 2014 • Volume 2, No. 2 encounter in a lexical entry are significant

are semantically grouped and followed by

and worth remembering (Handl, 2009).

examples of usage in which common prepositions are highlighted in bold type.

In an effort to correct these shortcomings,

The dictionary also includes notes about

the typical usage of the expressions.

number

dictionaries

specialized

have

been

collocation

developed

recent years.

As in the examples above, collocation dictionaries

are

comprehensive

and

The Oxford Collocations Dictionary for

include information that can potentially be

Students of English (OCDSE) released in

highly useful to the learner. However, as

2002

Laufer and Kimmel (1997) point out, the

polysemous words and provides a list of

usefulness of a dictionary, that is, the

common collocates for each word sense

extent to which a dictionary provides the

with

The

necessary information to the user, is not

collocates are grouped according to their

the same as its usability, which is defined

grammatical

by the user’s willingness to use a

alphabetical order. Phrasal verbs are

particular dictionary and their satisfaction

treated separately at the end of the verb

with it. Klotz (2003) points out that while

entries. The dictionary also includes some

the overall layout of the entries in OCDSE

information about the register, usage

is clear, having the collocates listed in

restrictions and figurative meaning of the

alphabetical order can make it difficult for

phrases.

the learner to distinguish between near-

defines

some

different

usage category

meanings

examples. and

listed

synonyms listed in the same entry. A The Macmillan Collocations Dictionary,

similar observation was made by Komuro

first published in 2010, was the first fully

(2009) who monitored Japanese learners’

corpus-based

specially

OCDSE use during a translation task and

designed to help upper-intermediate to

found that learners often felt overwhelmed

advanced students produce natural and

by a large number of collocates presented

more accurate English. The headwords

together.

are printed in red font, and when a word

grouping of the collocates combined with

has

each

structural differences between L1 and L2

meaning is numbered and followed by a

made it difficult for them to retrieve the

definition. Codes show the grammatical

correct sytnagmatic phrases.

relationship

dictionary

than

one meaning,

between

headwords

The

questionable

semantic

and

collocates (e.g. adj+N; v+N). Collocates

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Page 58

ELTA Journal • December 2014 • Volume 2, No. 2 These findings suggest that learners are likely to benefit from some dictionary use

In short, both general and specialized

training. This can be done by presenting

collocation dictionaries can help students

learners with the questions that would

improve

prompt them to examine the information

learners need to develop dictionary skills

about collocations in their dictionaries. For

in order to take advantage of them.

their

vocabulary

usage,

but

example, learners may be asked to consult

their

dictionary

and

list

the

4.2 Teaching Activities

collocates of the target word that they can

The

find, or to observe how these collocates

language

are marked and whether or not their

overlook chunks when they do not cause

dictionary indicates the level of formality of

comprehension

the collocations. A comparison of the

arguments for the explicit teaching of

entries for the same word in several

collocations. However, considering the

dictionaries

learners’

limited time that most learners have at

awareness about the differences that exist

their disposal, instruction must be efficient

between them and the ways that they can

and effective. Therefore, collocations must

be used.

be a part of the planned language input. In

can

also

raise

limited

exposure

and

learners’

the

target

tendency

problems

are

strong

their excellent book Teaching Chunks of McCarthy and O’Dell (2005:11) suggest

Language,

Lindstromberg

an activity in which the learners are asked

(2008) proposed the following three-stage

to group the collocates based on their

programme for teaching multiword chunks:

meaning. The learners are asked to

1) helping learners notice chunks and

classify expressions such as to suffer

raising

pain, to alleviate pain, to be racked with

importance;

pain etc. in one of the following three

2) helping learners commit chunks to

groups: 1) expressions that mean ‘making

memory;

others experience pain’, 2) phrases that

3) helping learners consolidate knowledge

refer to the experience of ‘being in pain’

that they acquired through review.

their

and

awareness

Boers

chunk

and 3) expressions that convey the idea of ‘making pain go away’. This exercise

Given the large number of lexical chunks

requires from learners to closely examine

that

the usage examples in their dictionaries

selective in their choice of target phrases.

and can help them learn the collocates in

The frequency of use is one of the most

semantic groups.

commonly

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exist,

teachers

applied

must

criteria,

highly

and

Page 59

ELTA Journal • December 2014 • Volume 2, No. 2 discussed earlier, dictionaries and online

text and then complete a chart with one or

corpora can help instructors make more

more of the patterns above. Their choices

informed choices. Teachers must also be

could then be examined through class

selective with regard to the number of

discussion, and the teacher could draw

collocation patterns they may want to

their attention to some important phrases

introduce. In some resource books such

that

as BBI Combinatory Dictionary of English

Lindstromberg and Boers (2008) also

(Benson,

suggest activities such as reading out loud

Benson & Ilson,

1986),

they

missed.

with

grammatical collocations. In a grammatical

dialogues. Another interesting activity that

collocation, a node (noun, adjective or

they propose is text reconstruction, a

verb) is combined with a preposition or

modified form of ‘dictogloss’ with the focus

grammatical structure. Lexical collocations

on lexical chunks. The teacher selects the

are made of nouns, verbs, adjectives and

important phrases from a text, writes them

adverbs only. Benson and his colleagues

on the board and makes sure that the

identified 7 types of lexical and 8 types of

learners

grammatical collocations, which, with a

he/she reads the text, which contains all

number of subcategories, resulted in over

the chunks aloud. The learners are then

these

asked to work in pairs or groups, and use

patterns may be interesting for research

the chunks that they can see on the board

purposes, they may be overwhelming for

to reconstruct the text. Another activity

an ordinary language learner. In my

that is both fun and conducive to learning

experience, for teaching purposes, it is

is putting chunks into chronological order.

term

Chunks related to romantic relationships

collocation to the following seven patterns:

work particularly well. Lindstromberg and

1) Adjective + noun

Boers

2) Noun + verb

phrases: make up, pop the question, tie

3) Noun + noun

the knot, hang out together, chat…up,

4) Verb + noun

have a row, break off their engagement,

5) Verb + preposition

catch…eye, get on, be engaged to be

6) Verb + adverb

married, fall in love, hit it off, set a date for

7) Adverb + adjective.

and so far so good. The learners are

effective

patterns.

While

restrict

the

and

have

distinction is made between lexical and

collocation

pauses

might

memorizing

understand them.

(2008)

suggest

the

short

After that

following

presented with a list of jumbled sentences To

help

students

notice

the

target

that contain the phrases above, asked to

phrases, they could be asked to read a

guess their meaning, and to make a

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Page 60

ELTA Journal â&#x20AC;˘ December 2014 â&#x20AC;˘ Volume 2, No. 2 typical story. Later they can be asked to tell their stories without looking at the

Finally, just like in the case of individual

paper.

words, review is crucial for the acquisition of multiword chunks. Learners must be

In addition to helping learners notice

given opportunities to encounter the target

collocations, teachers should also try to

phrases, in different contexts and in a

help

word

relatively short period of time, so that

combinations. This can be done by

memory traces can be formed. For this

making the learners aware of the linguistic

reason, it is important that the instructors

motivation

chunks.

keep a record of the phrases that were

Lindstromberg and Boers (2008) identify

covered in the course. One activity that

three types of linguistic motivation:

could be used for the consolidation of

1) the influence of the past, of culture, and

collocations is giving learners a text that

of economics;

they

2) the influence of register and genre;

slashes indicating the phrases that they

3) the influence of the repetition of sounds.

should recall. Lindstromberg and Boers

For example, if the teacher explains that

suggest this be done as a pair activity

words which have their origin in Norman

where one student reads the text and

French or Latin tend to be more formal

pauses and the other has to guess the

than words of a Germanic origin, it may be

word

easier for learners to understand and

Alternatively the students could be given a

remember why it is more common to say

list of the target phrases and asked to

remain in custody as opposed to stay in

place them in a new text.

them

remember

common

multiword

have

already

the

rest

encountered

the

with

phrase.

custody. Recognition of sound repetition patterns

may

also

have

positive

Another way collocations can be reviewed

mnemonic effect. As Lindstromberg and

is by asking students to correct the

Boers observe (2008), while words from

sentences containing collocation errors

different kinds of combinations, the ones

such as in the following example:

that provide sound repetition sound more

I succeeded my dream.

natural. For instance, sound repetition

accomplished my dream.

may explain why it is more common to say

Problematic collocations can also be

boy bands as opposed to guy bands, head

practiced through a translation exercise,

of the house and not boss of the house, or

so that the students can re-notice the

to go from hero to zero rather than to go

differences between L1 and L2 word

from hero to nothing.

combinations.

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For

I achieved /

example,

English

Page 61

ELTA Journal • December 2014 • Volume 2, No. 2 students of Spanish may be asked to

There were many cars on the street that

translate a sentence such as: I spent the

day.

Traffic was heavy that day.

whole year studying Spanish where the literal translation of the verb spend as gastar would be inappropriate.

To make the activity more interactive, the learners work in pairs. One student has to

Vocabulary substitution exercises can also

paraphrase a sentence and the other acts

be useful ways of consolidating learners’

as a “coach”, who has the model answer

collocation knowledge. Focus Paraphrase

and can correct his / her partner. The

(Vasiljevic, 2008) is a pair work activity in

activity has two parts, so that each student

which learners are provided with a list of

gets to play both roles.

words grouped by part of speech from which they need to form appropriate or

Collocation Bingo (Vasiljevic, 2008) is

adjective-noun collocations so that they

another activity that can be used to review

can paraphrase the target L2 sentences.

the words that the students encountered in the class materials and to consolidate their

Adjectives

collocation knowledge. The teacher reads

Nouns

a list of associates that the learners should

Example: strong big heavy

be familiar with and the students need to

vehicles transportation traffic

identify the target word.

Sample Bingo Card Teacher: “delicious exquisite rich strong mellow subtle…..”

ingredients

restaurant

specialty

order

serving

flavour

portion

cuisine

In short, collocation learning requires teacher-led guidance as learners tend to overlook the common word combinations in the text and they often lack the knowledge and language sensitivity to take advantage of linguistic motivation behind the meaning and the form of multiword phrases. For learners to remember collocations, it is necessary to have wellplanned and well-structured instruction that will prompt them to notice important collocations

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Page 62

ELTA Journal • December 2014 • Volume 2, No. 2 and then help them remember them through multiple exposures and activities that promote deep level processing and draw on linguistic motivation with regard to multi-word phrases. 5. Testing In order to assess learners’ needs and their lexical progress, it is necessary to have good and reliable tests of their phrasal knowledge. Regular testing of collocations may have a positive backwash effect leading to an increase in learners’ awareness of the importance of lexical chunks. However, currently there are still no standardized tests that can objectively measure learners’ syntagmatic competence in the second language. As Eyckmans (2009) points out, some reasons may be the difficulties associated with defining lexical phrases. Multiword phrases differ in their lexical composition, in the function they have, as well as the collocation patterns they exhibit. Some popular ways of testing collocation knowledge are: 1) L1-L2 translation; 2) L2 sentence cloze items; 3) sentence generation tasks; 4) discrete tests where learners are presented with a node-word prompt and asked to select or supply one or more of its collocates. However, each of the test formats above has some limitations. For example, it would not be practical to use a translation test in a context in which learners come from different language backgrounds. In sentence cloze format, leaving out the whole collocation has been found to result in multiple responses with different types of collocations. A more restricted format where the first one or two letters of the lexical constituents were provided made some learners focus on finding the words that matched the letters so much that they overlooked the propositional meaning of the sentence prompt (Revier, 2009). Sentence generation format can be time-consuming, and therefore the number of items that can be tested at one time is limited. Some studies (e.g. McNeill, 1996) also suggest that advanced learners can sometimes produce acceptable sentences even if they do not have a good understanding of the target words, which raises concerns about the validity of this test format. The scoring may be arbitrary too. Discrete tests where learners are asked to select or produce associates of a node-word do not provide sufficient information of the learner’s knowledge of the whole collocation (Revier, 2009).Just like single words, collocations have their own formal, semantic and usage properties. For example, productive knowledge of a verb object noun collocation requires knowledge of not only the phrase meaning but also its grammatical properties such as noun determination and number.

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Page 63

ELTA Journal • December 2014 • Volume 2, No. 2 The limitations above made Revier (2009) argue that collocations should be viewed as an independent construct and tested as a whole. He developed a new test format entitled CONTRIX, which presents a modified form of a cloze test where learners are asked to select the combination of a verb, article and noun that best complete a sentence.

The quickest way to win a friend’s trust is to show tell

a / an

joke

that you are able to

the

secret

take keep

truth

(Revier, 2009:129)

Revier argues that although the test involves selection, which is a characteristic of receptive tests, the CONTRIX format requires test takers to combine phrase constituents and grammatically encode the noun constituent for determination, providing some insight into the learners’ productive vocabulary knowledge. Revier pilot-tested the CONTRIX format with a group of Danish EFL learners and found that the test met the criteria of validity and reliability and proved to be very effective in distinguishing among learners of different L2 proficiency. Some downsides of this test format are that sentence prompt writing, distractor selection, and native-speaker norming make the test somewhat time- consuming to prepare. Furthermore, as Revier himself observes, while the test validity could be improved by increasing the number of items per section, there is a risk that a longer test may have lower reliability due to the possible fatigue of test takers, in particular those at lower levels of proficiency. Gyllsatad (2009: 157~158) offers two new test formats for testing collocation knowledge. In the first one entitled COLLEX (collocating lexis), the learners are presented with three word sequences and asked to select the one that is most likely to be used by native English speakers. a. drive a business b. run a business c. lead a business

a b c

The second format known as COLLMATCH is basically a Yes / No test, where learners are asked to judge whether or not the given word sequences are common English collocations.

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ELTA Journal • December 2014 • Volume 2, No. 2 catch a cold yes no

draw a limitation

yes no

For both tests, an important issue is the selection of the target phrases. Gyllstad suggests that one possibility would be to sample a large corpus such as BNC for a particular syntagmatic pattern (e.g. V + NP)and then use a stratified random sampling technique to select the target items. This approach however, would also require some manual analysis in order to eliminate idioms and free word combinations. Some research suggests that intonation patterns may also be indicative of the learners’ collocation knowledge. In fluent, coherent speech, phraseological sequences tend to be produced with no or little hesitation and with unbroken intonation contour (Lin & Adoplphs, 2009; Moon, 1997; Wray, 2004).If multiword phrases are pronounced as single intonation units, then prosodic breaks can show where language chunking takes place. Lin and Adolphs (2009) predicted that as learners’ speech tends to be slower and contains more hesitations, smooth and fluent stretches of speech are likely to be salient, which in turn would make the presence of phraseological units more explicit. This hypothesis was partially confirmed. A complete match between phraseological unit boundaries and intonation unit boundaries was found 55% of the time. While these results raise some concerns about the test validity, some mismatches were caused by the use of conjunctions at the beginning of the phrases and word repetitions. Further studies are needed in order to determine to what extent phraseological units determine intonation boundaries, and whether intonation patterns can be used to identify multiword phrases in the learner language.

6. Learner Autonomy In spite of the great advances in corpus research and lexicography, very little is still known about how learners approach collocation learning, how they achieve a particular level of performance, and how they interpret their own learning practices. One of very few studies which has examined individual learner development of collocation knowledge was conducted by Barfield (2009), who followed collocation learning practices of four language learners over one academic year. He identified five major processes of development:

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ELTA Journal • December 2014 • Volume 2, No. 2 

Understanding and reconfiguring past vocabulary practices;



Interpreting different worlds of everyday use;



Moving from quantity of lexical knowledge to quality of collocation use;



Reconnecting what is known and projecting new identities;



Developing authorship(Barfield, 2009:211-212).

Barfield’s observations confirmed the tendency of second language learners to identify vocabulary learning with expansion of vocabulary size. However, with practice, his students became aware of the limitations of this approach, and modified their learning strategies. For example, one of the students started to question her own learning strategies as she got more experienced with collocation learning. She noticed that “more” does not necessarily mean ”better”, and that indiscriminate recording of collocations just resulted in long lists of phrases that she found difficult to remember. She finally opted for a simpler form of representation that entailed creating small lexical networks that she labeled ‘collocation packages’ that enabled her to skillfully use a highly limited number of collocation choices. This transformation can clearly be seen in the following two figures:

fall into debt get into debt debt

run up debt clear a debt owe a debt to ~ be in debt

Figure 8. A sample of a learner’s collocation notes at the beginning of a school year (Barfield, 2009: 214).

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ELTA Journal • December 2014 • Volume 2, No. 2

“Developed countries should control industrial emission levels.” Figure 9. A sample of a learner’s collocation notes at the end of a school year (Barfield, 2009: 221)

Another learner reported reducing the number of collocations and moving from two-word combinations to longer phrases. This shift from quantity to quality is believed to reflect the greater control that learners establish over their learning (Benson & Lor, 1998). This process of transformation was fostered by the teacher inviting learners’ to reflect on their practices and through collaborative learning with other students. Barfield (2009) asked his students to interview each other about their collocation learning experiences. In order to prepare for the interviews they had to look into their collocation development, and reconsider the reasons behind the selection of particular phrases, their ways of recording, and the strategies they used to remember them. Barfield also observed that learners’ collocation development was to some extent affected by the process of sociocultural reorganization that they underwent in the course of language learning. The way the learners selected the vocabulary, and their willingness to use the phrases, were influenced not only by their communicative needs but also by their beliefs and attitudes, and the new social identities that they assumed during the learning process. For example, some students reported that good command of collocations helped them sound ‘less Japanese’, ‘more international’ and ‘cool’.

These results are encouraging. Japanese students are known for their conformist and teacher- dependent learning style, and for being part of an English language education where vocabulary learning is often identified with memorizing long lists of decontextualised E-mail correspondence: newsletter.elta@gmail.com Copyright ELTA Journal 2014 www.eltajournal.org.rs

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ELTA Journal • December 2014 • Volume 2, No. 2 words in preparation for the university entrance exam. The transformation of Barfield’s students shows that with some guidance learners are capable of and willing to adopt more autonomous learning practices and shift their priorities from the quantity of lexical knowledge to the quality of collocational use. The results of other studies suggest that just raising learners’ awareness of the importance of collocation knowledge is likely to make them become more aware of multiword phrases, even when the instruction is not collocationoriented. For example, Peters (2009) observed that advanced EFL learners who were familiar with the concept of collocations, were likely to remember vocabulary in phrases even when collocations were not explicitly targeted as part of the learning task. This finding is significant as it suggests a long-term positive effect of consciousness-raising activities; if learners recognize the importance of collocations they may be able to overcome some of the deficiencies they may encounter in the teaching materials and in classroom instruction. One way of helping learners become more selective and more independent in their collocation learning is by giving them some practice with the use of online corpora. Corpus analysis can help learners focus their attention on the phrases with the highest frequency of use. Corpus data can also be used to promote learners’ autonomy in error correction. Selfcorrection is an important aspect of language learning that raises both the learner’s language awareness and his / her confidence. Therefore, helping learners become more self-sufficient should be an important teaching objective and students must be given opportunities to make adjustments to their language production. However, error correction, if left unguided, can turn into a very frustrating experience. For the reasons discussed earlier, collocation errors may be particularly difficult to detect. Therefore, the teachers can help learners by letting them know that they have a problem in terms of word choice. For example, a student may say I succeeded my dream. The teacher should underline the incorrect word and ask the student to look for a more appropriate expression. This can be done by using the earlier explained ‘wildcard search’ or doing a synonym inquiry as below.

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ELTA Journal • December 2014 • Volume 2, No. 2

Figure 10. Synonym search in COCA The results of the search show that

examined some test formats through

achieved may be the best synonym in this

which learners’ needs and progress could

context.

be assessed. Attention was also paid to the challenges that learners face in

In short, considering the amount of

reconfiguration of their learning practices

language that needs to be covered in the

during their transition to more autonomous

classroom, it is essential to equip learners

productive word learning and resources

with the skills that will enable them to learn

that could help them in that process.

collocations and confirm their vocabulary choices

outside

the

classroom.

As discussed above, many of the features

encouraging learners to reflect on their

relevant to vocabulary learning in general,

learning practices and offering them some

such as noticing, depth of processing, and

training in the use of online corpora,

multiple

teachers can help students take control

phrases are applicable to collocation

over their vocabulary learning.

learning as well. First, in order to revise

encounters

with

the

target

their learning priorities, students must 7. Conclusion

recognize the value of a chunk-based

This paper has highlighted the importance

approach

of incorporating collocation instruction in

Unselective,

the

teacher-selected phrases is not likely to

resources that could help teachers and

produce the desired effect. What is

learners select their vocabulary learning

needed is learners’ active engagement in

targets, introduced some activities that

the learning process. They need to

could

classroom,

help

remember

learners the

discussed

vocabulary

mechanical

learning.

recording

notice

and

redefine what word knowledge entails and

collocations,

and

recognize that vocabulary learning is more

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Page 69

ELTA Journal â&#x20AC;˘ December 2014 â&#x20AC;˘ Volume 2, No. 2 than just adding single new words to the

Furthermore, while collocation learning

lexicon. It is only when learners can see

may begin with the acquisition of the most

the significance of collocations that they

frequent word combinations, in the end, it

will persist in their efforts to master them.

is the learnersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; communicative needs and

Teachers play an important role in guiding

their perception of usefulness that will

students to appreciate the importance of

determine which word combinations will

collocation knowledge.

be attended to. To this end, in addition to explicit teaching of the selected multiword

Second, learners need class instruction

phrases, classroom

where selected multiword phrases are

incorporate dictionary use training and

targeted explicitly. Learners sometimes

practice in using online corpora such as

lack the cognitive resources to notice new

COCA. In addition, students should be

language elements in the input (Laufer &

introduced to different ways of making

Hulstijn, 2001), and therefore simple

collocation notes and prompted to discuss

exposure to authentic language may not

their strengths and weaknesses. They

be sufficient for phrase uptake. Planned

should also be encouraged to experiment

and structured in-class learning tasks are

with various collocation recording formats

necessary

commit

until they develop the style that best suits

language chunks to memory and to

their needs. Class practice should be

ensure that they have multiple encounters

complemented with homework activities

with the target phrases in order to ensure

designed to promote more autonomous

consolidation

learning. For example, students could be

help

learners

their

collocation

knowledge.

instruction should

asked to keep journals in which they reflect on their learning. These reflections

Finally, learners need to acquire the

should prompt learners to reexamine their

cognitive and metacognitive strategies that

learning strategies and make adjustments

will help them to identify and remember

where necessary.

multiword combinations effectively outside the classroom, and enable them to

8. Future directions

monitor their progress and take control of

One of the remaining challenges for

their

the

teachers and for textbook writers is

enormous number of collocations in the

establishing better connections between

English

EFL

vocabulary

learning.

language,

even

Given the

most

materials

and

the

results

dedicated teachers will only be able to

experimental research. In spite of the

teach

great progress in corpus studies and

small

fraction

them.

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Page 70

ELTA Journal • December 2014 • Volume 2, No. 2 lexicography, a large number of the

There is also a need for new, more

existing course books target too few

sensitive

language chunks and do not do enough to

development

help

knowledge,

and

learners

remember

them

ways

tracking

learners’

the

collocation

assessing

the

(Lindstromberg & Boers, 2008). New

effectiveness of different kinds of input on

insights

learners’ uptake of lexical phrases. It is

hoped that this paper will encourage

about

collocational

the

various

relationships

kinds

should

reflected in the teaching materials as well

teachers

adopt

the

chunk-based

as in classroom methodologies.

approach to vocabulary instruction and prompt them to further explore creative

More research is needed to find out how

and communicative ways through which

learners

such an approach can be implemented in

use

dictionaries

and

other

reference materials, and which strategies

the language classroom.

they employ to master L2 collocations.

References: Arnaud, P. J. L. & Savignon, S. J. (1997). Rare words, complex lexical units and the advanced learner. In J. Coady & T. Huckin (Eds.), Second language vocabulary acquisition (pp. 153-173). Cambridge University Press. Barfield, A. (2009). Exploring productive L2 collocation knowledge. In T. Fitzpatrick and A. Barfield (Eds.), Lexical processing in language learners: Papers and perspectives in honour of Paul Meara (pp. 95-110). Clevendon: Multilingual Matters. Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionary (2014). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Benson, M. Benson, E., & Ilson, R. (1986). The BBI combinatory dictionary of English. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Benson, P. & Lor, W. (1998). Making sense of autonomous language learning: conceptions of learning and readiness for autonomy. English Centre Monograph, No.2, Hong Kong: University of Hong Kong. Eyckmans, J. (2009). Toward an assessment of learners’ receptive and productive syntagmatic knowledge. In A. Barfield & H. Gyllstad (Eds.), Researching collocations in another language (pp. 139-152). London: Palgrave Macmillan. Firth, J. R. (1957). A synopsis of linguistic theory, 1930-1955. In F.R. Palmer (Ed.), Selected papers of J.R. Firth 1952-1959 (pp.168-205). London: Longman. Gyllstad, H. (2009). Designing and evaluating tests of receptive collocation knowledge: COLLEX and COLLMATCH. In A. Barfield & H. Gyllstad (Eds.), Researching collocations in another language (pp. 153-170), London: Palgrave Macmillan. Halliday, M.A.K. (1966). Lexis as a linguistic level. In C.E. Bazell, C. Catford, M.AK. Halliday, & R.H.

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ELTA Journal • December 2014 • Volume 2, No. 2 Robbins (Eds.), In memory of J.R. Firth (pp. 148-162). London: Longman. Handl, S. (2009). Towards collocational webs for presenting collocations in learners dictionaries. In A. Barfield & H. Gyllstad (Eds.), Researching collocations in another language (pp. 69-85), London: Palgrave Macmillan. Howarth, P. (1998a). Phraseology and second language proficiency. Applied Linguistics 19 (1): 24-44. Howarth,

(1998b).

The

phraseology

learners’

academic

writing.

A.P.

Cowie

(Ed.), Phraseology: theory, analysis and applications (pp. 161-186). Oxford: Oxford University Press Jiang, J. (2009). Pedagogic materials for L2 collocation use. In A. Barfield & H. Gyllstad (Eds.), Researching collocations in another language (pp. 99-113), London: Palgrave Macmillan. Jones, S. & Sinclair, J. (1974). English lexical collocations: A study in computational linguistics. Cahiers de Lexicologie 24 (1): 15-61. Klotz, M. (2003). Review of “Oxford Collocations Dictionary for Students of English”. International Journal of Lexicography 6 (4): 300-304. Komuro,

(2009).

Collocation

dictionary

accessibility.

Barfield

Gyllstad

(Eds.), Researching collocations in another language (pp. 86-98). London: Palgrave Macmillan. Laufer, B. (2005). Focus on form in second language vocabulary learning. In S.H. Foster-Cohen, M.P. Garcia-Mayo & J. Cenoz (Eds.), EUROSLA Yearbook 5: 223-250. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Laufer, B. & Hulstijn, J. (2001). Incidental vocabulary acquisition in a second language: The construct of task-induced involvement. Applied Linguistics 22 (1): 1-26. Laufer, B. & Kimmel, M. (1997). Bilingualised dictionaries. How learners really use them. System 25 (3): 361-369. Lewis, M. (2000). Learning in the lexical approach. In M. Lewis (Ed.), Teaching collocation: Further developments in the lexical approach (pp.155-185). Croatia: Thomson. Lin, P.M.S. & Adolphs, S. (2009). Sound evidence: Phraseological units in spoken corpora. In A. Barfield & H. Gyllstad (Eds.), Researching collocations in another language (pp. 34-48). London: Palgrave Macmillan. Lindstromberg, S. & Boers, F. (2008). Teaching chunks of language. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Macmillan Collocations Dictionary (2010). UK: Macmillan. McCarthy, M. & O’Dell, F. (2005). English Collocations in Use. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. McNeill, A. (1996). Vocabulary knowledge profiles: evidence from Chinese-speaking ESL teachers. Hong Kong Journal of Applied Linguistics 1: 39-63. Moon, R. (1997). Vocabulary connections: Multiword-Items in English. In N. Schmitt & M. McCarthy E-mail correspondence: newsletter.elta@gmail.com Copyright ELTA Journal 2014 www.eltajournal.org.rs

Page 72

ELTA Journal • December 2014 • Volume 2, No. 2 (Eds.), Vocabulary: Description, Acquisition and Pedagogy (pp. 40-63). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Oxford Collocations Dictionary for Students of English (2002). Oxford: Oxford University Press. Nesselhauf, N. (2003). The use of collocations by advanced learners of English and some implications for teaching. Applied Linguistics 24 (2): 223-242. Pawley, A. & Syder, F. H. (1983). Two puzzle for linguistic theory: Nativelike selection and native like fluency. In J. C. Richards & R.W. Schmidt (Eds.) Language and communication (pp. 191-226). London: Longman. Peters, E. (2007). Manipulating L2 learners’ dictionary use and its effect on L2 word retention. Language, Learning & Technology 11 (2): 36-58. Peters, E. (2009). Collocation and attention-drawing techniques. In A. Barfield & H. Gyllstad (Eds.), Researching collocations in another language (pp. 194-207). London: Palgrave Macmillan. Revier, R.L. (2009). Evaluating a new test of whole English collocations. In A. Barfield & H. Gyllstad (Eds.), Researching collocations in another language (pp. 49-59). London: Palgrave Macmillan. Schmitt, N. (Ed.) (2004). Formulaic sequences: acquisition, processing and use. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Singleton, D. (1999). Exploring the second language mental lexicon. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Siyanova, A. & Schmitt, N. (2008). L2 learner production and processing of collocation: A multi-study perspective. The Canadian Modern Language Review 64 (3): 429-458. Vasiljevic, Z. (2008). Developing collocational competence of second language learners. The East Asian Learner 4 (1): 46-50. Wray, A. (2002). Formulaic language and the lexicon. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Wray, A. (2004). “Here’s one I prepared earlier”: Formulaic language learning on television. In N. Schmitt (Ed.), Formulaic sequences: Acquisition, processing and use (pp. 249-268). Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Yang, Y. & Hendricks, A. (2004). Collocation awareness in the writing process. Journal of Reflections on English Language Teaching 3: 51-78.

***** Zorana Vasiljević is associate professor at the Faculty of Language and Literature at Bunkyo University, Japan. She holds a PhD in Applied Linguistics (University of Queensland). Her research interests include vocabulary acquisition, EFL methodologies and learner autonomy.

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ELTA Journal • December 2014 • Volume 2, No. 2

Strategies of Metaphor Translation by Brankica Bojović, PhD, Associate Professor, Alpha University, Belgrade Abstract Specialised English dictionaries offer a unique treatment of metaphors, showing how lexicalised metaphors and phrases have monosemous or polysemous metaphorical meanings. Besides them, there can be found some specific regular patterns which can help students in the cognitive mechanism of translating metaphors. This paper discusses the usefulness of Newmark's dual theory of semantic and communicative methods of translation. He proposes seven strategies of metaphor translation that are here analysed, discussed and illustrated by a corpus from classes. For Newmark, translation is a craft. A student, as a translator, acquires a technique in which the process to be followed takes into account the acts of comprehension, interpretation, formulation and recreation. My students in our translatology workshops are involved in the translation process and they both practice and gain skills in the strategies of translation of figurative language from the SL to TL and vice versa. Key words: strategies, translation, figurative language, Newmark's prescriptive model Apstrakt Specijalizovani rečnici engleskog jezika nude jedinstven prikaz metafora time što pokazuju kako leksičke metafore i idiomi mogu biti jednoznačni ili višeznačni. Osim toga, u njima se mogu pronaći određene šeme ili 'paterni' koji mogu pomoći učenicima u kognitivnim mehanizmima prevođenja metafora. Ovaj članak obrađuje temu korisnosti Njumarkove dvojne teorije semantičkih i komunikativnih metoda prevođenja i njegovih sedam strategija za prevođenje metafora će se analizirati, razmotriti i ilustrovati korpusom primera sa časova. Za Njumarka prevod je veština. Učenik kao prevodilac stiče tehniku pri kojoj process koji treba da prati podrazumeva činove razumevanja, interpretacije, formulacije i stvaranja. Moji učenici na našim prevodilačkim radionicama su uključeni u proces prevođenja i time vežbaju i stiču veštine u okviru strategija prevođenja figurativnog jezika sa izvornog jezika na ciljni jezik i obratno. Ključne reči: strategije, prevod, figurativni jezik, Njumarkov preskriptivni model

of scholar’s journals, can form the basis

1. Introduction different

for the research of metaphors in the

theoretical concepts and parameters for

process of translation. A number of

the purposes of identifying, describing

translation strategies in dealing with this

metaphors and their translatability as well

issue will be discussed and suggested.

as transfer methods. Such parameters,

The paper focuses on the practical

either combined with others from within

dimension

translatology or used in specialised papers

between two different languages: English

Scholars

metaphor

use

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of the translation

process

Page 74

ELTA Journal • December 2014 • Volume 2, No. 2 and

the

native

Montenegrin),

language my

(Serbian,

Evans and Green (2006:303) pointed out

translatology

that an important idea relates to hiding

workshops.

and

Metaphors are very frequent and widely

structured in terms of a particular source,

used tropes in English. According to Steen

this highlights certain aspects of the target

et al. (2010), every seven-and-a-half

while simultaneously hiding other aspects.

lexical units in the British National Corpus

Invoking the metaphor ARGUMENT IS

is related to a metaphorical mapping

WAR highlights the adversarial nature of

structure. This means that translators

argument but hides the fact that argument

should deal with them on a daily basis and

often involves an ordered and organised

attention should be paid to this. As

development of a particular topic (he won

outlined in the following paper, Newmark’s

the argument, I couldn’t defend that point,

typology was used to examine the kinds of

and so on). In contrast, the metaphor AN

metaphors in the texts. A distinction was

ARGUMENT IS A JOURNEY highlights

made

the

between

lexicalised

and

unlexicalised expressions.

highlighting:

when

progressive

and

target

organisational

aspects of arguments while hiding the confrontational aspects. (We will proceed

2. About Newmark’s types of

in a step-by-step fashion. We have

metaphors

covered a lot of ground.) In this way metaphors can perspectivise a concept or

For many centuries, metaphors were

conceptual domain.

studied within rhetorics. Strategies of

The most important definitions associated

translating metaphors can be prescriptive

with metaphors, which help understanding

(Newmark) and descriptive (Snell-Hornby).

the theme in the best way, will be

that

mentioned

prescriptive ones would be considered,

difficulties

the

since I translated the other type into

because

their

Serbian with authorised rights three years

implication

ago, and on this occasion they will not be

In the Oxford English Dictionary (2002) a

analysed.

metaphor is described as a figure of

According to Newmark (1988:106) any

speech in which a name or descriptive

word can be a metaphor and to find out if

phrase is transferred to an object or an

it is, the primary meaning has to be

action

matched against the linguistic and cultural

to, that to which it is literally applicable; 2.

this

paper

was

decided

since

different

they

can

translation

from,

create process

vagueness

but

and

analogous

contexts.

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Page 75

ELTA Journal • December 2014 • Volume 2, No. 2 A thing considered as representative of

(3) Stock or standard metaphors, which he

some other (usu. abstract) thing.

defines as an established metaphor […]

A metaphor is defined as an indirect

not

comparison

metaphors

between

two

deadened are

overuse.

frequently

These

applied

apparently unrelated things. The point of

informal language (e.g. the body of a car;

similarity may be physical but often it is

he sees fear in my heart);

chosen for its connotations (Newmark

(4)

1988:85). He states that the first purpose

fixedness of a stock metaphor has been

of a metaphor is to describe something

adapted or personalised in some way.

comprehensively,

Usually,

economically

and

Adapted

metaphors,

proverbs,

which

reflect

the

relationship

possible in literal language (Newmark

culture, fall into this category. They are

1988:111).

actually stock metaphors, but adapted by to

Newmark

language

the

generally more forcefully than what is

According

between

where

and

(1988:104),

a translator or speaker into a new context.

metaphor could be any figurative speech:

Newmark illustrates this type by the

the transferred sense of a physical word;

following (e.g. the ball is a little in their

the personification of an abstraction; the

court, get them in the door); (5) Recent

application of a word or collocation to what

metaphors,

where

it does not literally denote, i.e. to describe

metaphorical

neologism

one thing in terms of another. Note also

generally used in the SL. Newmark

that metaphor incidentally demonstrates a

categorises this metaphor as a live

resemblance, a common semantic area

metaphor (e.g. groovy)

between two or more or less similar things

(6) Original metaphors, which are created

the image and the object.

by the writer or speaker usually to make

anonymous has

become

discourse more interesting and often used On the basis of his typology of metaphors,

reiteration. It is created from the SL’sown

distinguishes

six

types

them

(1988:108):

highlight

particular

points

original thoughts and ideas (e.g. a forest of fingers).

(1) Dead metaphors, whose images are highly unmarked (e.g. at the mouth of the river, the arm of a chair); (2) Cliché metaphors, which refer to the

3. Newmark’s prescriptive model of metaphor translation

use of cliché expressions in text (e.g. long time, no see; a transparent lie);

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Page 76

ELTA Journal • December 2014 • Volume 2, No. 2 The word translation is defined either as a

manipulation,

process

plurality replaces dogmas of faithfulness to

(Meaning

product

where

the

concept

(Meaning 2) as it is described:

a source text, and where the idea of the

e.g. translation, n.

original is being challenged from a variety

1. The act or an instance of

of perspectives.

translating.

Newmark binds the translation strategies

2. A written or spoken expression

to the type of metaphor (standard, recent,

of the

dead, original, adapted, cliché) as well as

meaning of a word,

speech,

book

etc

another language.

text types. According

Newmark’s

prescriptive

It means that the translation process goes

model of metaphors translation (1988)

beyond the simple concept of merely

there are strategies for transfer of their

replacing words in one language with

proper meaning.

words in another. Metaphor has been

While dead metaphors are not especially

widely

problematic, literal translation is often not

discussed

primarily

the

within

translatology,

translatability

and

strategies of their translation. There

are

main

In vocative texts, cliché metaphors should of

be upheld in the TT (Newmark 1988: 107).

metaphor translation found in translatology

In informative texts, they should be

(Bassnett, Lefevere, 1993; Snell-Hornby,

reduced to their sense or replaced with a

2006) and these are: 1) a metaphor into

more credible stock metaphor.

the

For the translation of stock metaphors, the

same

three

possible.

metaphor,

strategies

named

direct

translation; 2) a metaphor into a different

image

should

legitimately

metaphor—substitution of the image in the

reproduced in the TL, but the metonyms

SL by a TL metaphor with the same or a

used may be transferred as long as the

similar sense and the same or similar

substitutes have the same connotations as

associations; 3) a metaphor into the

the SL. However, the SL image is more

sense—paraphrase, a shift to a non-

commonly translated by images that are

figurative equivalent.

established to a similar degree. Stock

Postmodern trends in translatology have

metaphors may also be reduced to their

been recognised by Bassnett (1993:47),

sense or literal language.

who perceived them as inaugurating a

Adapted metaphors should be translated

poststructuralist stage in the discipline,

using equivalent adapted metaphors or

given that translation is now perceived as

reduced to their sense.

one of a range of processes of textual

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ELTA Journal • December 2014 • Volume 2, No. 2 Recent metaphors should be translated

5. Converting a metaphor to its sense.

using componential analysis (ibid. 114).

This is a strategy where the image of the

SL is reduced to its sense and rewritten to

vocative texts,

original metaphors

should be translated literally, as they

suit the TL.

“contain the core of an important writer’s

6. Deleting. It is used when the metaphor

message…” (ibid. 112). If the metaphor is

is redundant.

obscure and of little importance to the text,

7. Combining the same metaphor with the

it should be replaced with a descriptive

sense.

metaphor or reduced to its sense. In

These strategies are arranged according

informative texts, consideration should be

to preference, which means that Newmark

given to the number and variety of original

recommends that translators opt for the

metaphors in the text as a whole and a

replacement strategy in the first instance

decision should be taken between literal

and only if this is not possible, due to

translation, reduction to its sense or

cultural clashes, to move down the list and

modification of the metaphor.

opt for an alternative strategy. Newmark

Newmark contributed to translatology with

(1988: 48-49) argues that the most

his

metaphor

translatable metaphors are dead ones,

translation that have almost always been

whereas the translatability of stock and

taken up by the researchers and which are

original

considered here.

proximity of the two systems involved.

They are:

Semantically

1. Reproducing the same image in the TL.

metaphor

This is the best way to translate stock

translatological

metaphors, most frequently, idioms.

bound to their communicative role and

2. Replacing the image in the SL with a

type, nature and function of a trope as

standard TL image. It is used when there

such.

is no image that corresponds exactly to

As for types of metaphors, the criterion of

the one in the SL and which does not

time, or in other words, the novelty or

clash with the TL culture.

originality of expressions, as proposed by

3. Translating metaphor by simile. This

Newmark has been often applied. On one

strategy modifies an emotive metaphorical

hand, there are unlexicalised metaphors

expression to suit the TL if that context is

which are absolutely or relatively novel

not as emotive in character as the SL.

and creative, while on the other hand,

4. Translating metaphor by simile + sense.

there is a whole world of lexicalised

seven

strategies

ones

proportional

speaking, translation

the

issue

deals

equivalence

the

of with

which

metaphors whose metaphorical nature is

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Page 78

ELTA Journal • December 2014 • Volume 2, No. 2 still apparent, but which are already

metaphors,

deadened

established in the language.

(Newmark, 1988:108).

overuse

Here Newmark’s typology of metaphors (1988:106) is considered and discussed:

4) Adapted metaphors (are metaphors which involve an adaptation of an existing

1) Dead metaphors (are metaphors where

metaphor)

you are hardly conscious of the image and describe and relate to universal terms like

5) Recent metaphors (are metaphorical

space and time; their figurative meaning is

neologisms which spread fast in language,

lost or very hard to distinguish and they

like skint without money); these metaphors

are lexicalised.

are lexicalised ones.

2) Cliché metaphors (are ones that have

6) Original metaphors are unlexicalised

temporarily outlived their usefulness like

ones; they portray the writer’s personality

jewel in the crown of the country’s

and comment on life (Newmark 1988:112).

education);

Newmark

(1981:87)

(1988:104)

considers

distinguishes them by saying that clichés

metaphors those that have two purposes:

are made up of two types of fixed

the first one is to describe a mental

collocations (figurative adjective + literal

process or state, a concept, a person, an

noun or figurative verb + figurative noun).

object, a quality or an action more

They are similar to dead metaphors

comprehensively and concisely than is

because they have been overused and

possible in literal or physical language.

very often, their secondary, figurative

The second one is that metaphors should

meanings can be found in dictionaries.

appeal to the senses, to interest, to clarify

Newmark (1988:108) argues that it is the

graphically, to please, to delight. His

translator’s choice to distinguish stock

definition can be explained as both

metaphors

cognitive and aesthetic, since a metaphor

from

clichés

since

they

on its own covers these two purposes

overlap.

together. 3) Stock or standard metaphors (are established metaphors used in an informal context referentially pragmatically efficient like oil the wheels); they are often culturally

bound,

emotional

warmth

opposed

most

they and dead

have are

certain not,

and

4. Conclusion

cliché

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Page 79

ELTA Journal • December 2014 • Volume 2, No. 2 Over

the

decades,

from

depending on type, such as dead, cliché,

Aristotle, metaphors have been classified

stock, recent or original metaphors. His

in different ways by different linguists. This

extensive research on the strategies of

paper has primarily discussed Newmark’s

metaphor translation proved immensely

classification (1988) of metaphors into six

significant in the practical translatological

types

perspective.

and

his

beginning

categorisation

was

considered easier to apply to the analysis

However, since the advent of a cognitive

of English metaphors, because of the

approach, mainly initiated by Lakoff and

practical way that the definitions were

Johnson (1980), it has repeatedly been

provided and the students’ practical skills

demonstrated that metaphors have not

and

been just decorative elements of rhetoric,

explanations

translatology

workshops.

but rather basic resources for thought

In translatology, metaphors were reflected

processes in human society. They are

on with respect to translatability or what

cognitive

was

communicating

lost

translating

them,

their

devices

for

forming

conceptualisations

and of

originality, cultural background or TL

reality.

language richness. Metaphors are also

In conceptual metaphor theory, metaphors

culture-specific; they cannot be transferred

are means to understand one domain of

intact from a source language (SL) to a

experience, a new, unknown one, a target

target language (TL). There are several

domain, in terms of another, a familiar

strategies of metaphor transfer from SL to

one, a source domain. The source domain

TL.

is mapped onto the target domain. The

Newmark contributed to translatology with

structural

his

metaphor

conceptual schema are transferred to the

translation that have often been taken up

target domain, thus also allowing for

by other researchers. Most of the work in

knowledge-based

translatology

entailments.

seven

strategies

has

commented

components

the

inferences

base

and

metaphors in a more traditional view,

For Newmark (1988:84) translatology is

defining

linguistic

mainly concerned with the huge purpose

expression which can describe the object

of metaphor which is to describe an entity,

more comprehensively, succinctly and

event or quality more comprehensively

forcefully than is possible in literal or

and concisely and in a more complex way

physical language (Newmark 1988: 95).

than is possible by using literal language.

By using Newmark’s typology, it was

And translators, my students, decide on

possible to categorise different metaphors

their translation strategies focusing on the

metaphor

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Page 80

ELTA Journal • December 2014 • Volume 2, No. 2 items such as the SL or TL, culture and style.

References: Bassnett S. (1993) Comparative Literature. A Critical Introduction, Oxford, Blackwell. Bojović B. (2011) Pravci u studijama prvođenja, Podgorica, Obodsko slovo. (autorizovani prevod Snel-Hornbi M.) British National Corpus, BNC Interface: http://www.natcorp.ox.ac.uk Oxford English Dictionary (OED) (2002) Concise Oxford English Dictionary (2011) Evans V. and Green M. (2006)Cognitive Linguistics: An Introduction, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Lakoff G. & Johnson M.(1980) Metaphors We Live By, Chicago and London, The University of Chicago Press, online. Newmark, P. (1981; 1988) Approaches to Translation, London, Prentice Hall International Newmark, P. (1988) A textbook of translation. London, New York, Prentice Hall International Steen G. J. et al. (2010) Metaphor in usage, Cognitive Linguistics Vol. 21/ 4 (765-796)

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Page 81

ELTA Journal • December 2014 • Volume 2, No. 2

The Influence of Bilingualism on Cognition and Third Language Acquisition by Radmila Palinkašević, Mihailo Palov Preschool Teacher Training College, Vršac, Serbia Abstract The aim of this paper is twofold. Firstly to explore how bilingualism influences cognition and secondly how it influences the third language learning process. Some of the most prominent advantages of bilingualism on cognition were explored such as higher level of metacognition, inhibitory control, task switching etc. together with the most significant disadvantages to form a comprehensive view of the issue. The effects on third language acquisition were explored with a slight emphasis on cross-linguistic influence and transfer. In order to understand why bilingualism can have such diverse effects the factors that influence the development of bilingualism were also explored. Key words: bilingualism, acquisition, cross-linguistic influence, cognitive advantages, transfer Apstrakt Ovaj članak se bavi odgovorom na dva pitanja, gde je prvo kako bilingvizam utiče na kogniciju, a drugo kako utiče na usvajanje trećeg stranog jezika. Istražene su neki od najznačajnijih pozitivnih uticaja bilingvizma na kogniciju kao što su viši nivo metakognicije, brzo menjanje zadataka itd. Takođe su istraženi i negativni uticaji bilingvizma. Pri razmatranju uticaja bilingvizma na usvajanje trećeg stranog jezikastavljen je blag naglasak na međujezički uticaj i transfer. Razmotreni su i faktori koji utiču na razvoj bilingvizma i kognitivnih prednosti. Ključne reči: bilingvizam, usvajanje, međujezički uticaj, kognitivne prednosti, transfer

1. Introduction

the world than monolinguals. According to

In the 21st century where knowledge is the

the Ethnologue (2009) more than 7000

most valuable commodity the importance

languages are spoken in 149 countries. In

of language is even more prominent. It is

such

no longer enough to know only one

multilingualism

language to be a successful and integrated

inevitable.

individual in today’s society. Bilingualism

(2003:69) estimates that two thirds of the

and multilingualism is no longer considered

world’s children grow up in a multilingual

a rare phenomenon, there are actually

environment. Consequently research on

more bilingual and multilingual speakers in

bilingualism

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linguistic and

bilingualism

Furthermore

and

environment David

are Cristal

multilingualism

has

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ELTA Journal • December 2014 • Volume 2, No. 2 dramatically increased in the last few years

detailed overview of these problems refers

in quantity, quality and breadth (T. K.

to Baker 2011).

Bhatia 2013).

The first in the series of studies in which

Therefore this article aims to explain how

the conditions met modern standards was

this omnipresent phenomenon influences

Pearl and Lambert (1962) where the age,

cognition and even more relevant for

socioeconomic status and sex of the

teachers, how it influences the acquisition

participants were matched. Here balanced

of a third language.

bilinguals were chosen to participate in the study. The results were that bilinguals

2. The influence of bilingualism on

showed higher scores on verbal and non-

cognition

verbal intelligence. Their explanation of these results is that since bilinguals

Bilingualism is a phenomenon which has

manipulate two symbolic systems they

always provoked a strong response. Our

analyze underlying semantic features in

understanding

its

greater detail and have greater mental

effects has colossally changed over the

flexibility and facility in concept formation

years. From the early 19th century to

(Hammers 2000).

approximately the 1960’s it was considered

Since

that bilingualism had a negative effect on

cognitive advantages of bilinguals have

cognitive

research

been found, we will note just some of the

supported the view that bilingual children

most prominent but not a comprehensive

suffered from academic retardation, were

list.

socially maladjusted and had a lower IQ

bilingualism on cognition are (according to

than monolingual children. Pinter & Keller

Hammers

(1922) spoke of ‘linguistic handicap’ and

reconstructing

Sear (1923) spoke of ‘mental handicap’ to

(Balkan 1970); superior results on verbal

describe

cognitive

and non-verbal intelligence tests, verbal

Hammers

originality and verbal divergence tests (

bilingualism

development.

the

development

The

bilingual

(Baker

2011,

and

2000). However,

this

Some

Cummins modern

research

gives

important

the

2000):

study

numerous

advantages

better

ability

perceptual

Gulutzan

1974);

of in

situations

greater

sensitivity to semantic relations between

opposite research findings and speaks of

words

positive effects of bilingualism on cognitive

1978), higher scores on Piagetian concept

development. This difference is explained

formation tasks (Liedtke & Nelson, 1968);

by the fact that the early research had

better performance in rule-discovery tasks

many methodological problems (for a

(Bain, 1975); a greater degree of divergent

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(Lanco-Worrall

1972,

Cummins

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ELTA Journal • December 2014 • Volume 2, No. 2 thinking efficiency

(

Da in

Silveira

1989);

higher

verbal-transformation

and

simultaneously activated semantic units, by virtue of inhibition (Hilchey & Klein 2011).

symbol substitution tasks (Ekstrand 1981);

Because

greater

activate the SAS every time they speak or

originality

creative

thinking

bilingual

speakers

need

(Torrance, 1970); greater metalinguistic

listen it is highly strengthened.

ability (Pattnaik & Mohanty, 1984).

Bilingual

Recent studies have focused on bilingual’s

switching between two tasks and switching

enhanced problem solving abilities where

strategies quickly on the fly (Prior &

solutions depend on inhibitory control

MacWhinney 2010). Bilinguals also have

(Grosjean 2011). The bilinguals’ advantage

heightened metalinguistic abilities but it is

in tasks where inhibitory control is needed

only present when inhibitory control is

is explained by the “inhibitory control

needed for the task. Therefore when a

theory” which was proposed by D. W.

problem contains a conflict like for example

Green in 1998 (Hilchey& Klein 2011).

counting the words in correct sentences

Research has shown that when a bilingual

bilinguals would have an advantage, but if

person uses one language, the other is

it were just a metalinguistic task without the

activated at the same time. When people

conflict

listen they do not hear the whole word

mistakes in sentences or replacing one

simultaneously and even before the whole

sound

word is said our brain starts to process the

monolinguals

information and guess what the word could

(Grosjean 2011).

be. Therefore if a person hears the word

Bialystok, Craik and Freedman (2007)

‘can’ he/she will probably also activate the

discovered

word ‘candle’ or ‘candy’ at least in the

against symptoms of dementia into old

earlier stages of word recognition. For

age.

bilingual speakers this process is not

enrichment

limited to the language that they are using

variety of specific lifestyle factors have

but both languages are activated (Marian &

pervasive beneficial effects on cognitive

Shook, 2012). In order to retrieve the

functioning through the lifespan (Hilchey&

relevant word, one of the words needs to

Klein 2011).

be inhibited. The supervisory attentional

Another area in which bilinguals differ from

system (SAS) regulates this process in

monolinguals is the neurological activation.

which only the relevant semantic unit for

Bilinguals appear to have advantages in

speech or language is retrieved by solving

auditory attention. ‘The cognitive control

the

required to manage multiple languages

conflict

associated

with

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two

people

like with

This

are

for

also

better

example

correcting

another

bilinguals

obtain

similar

that

bilingualism

relates

hypothesis

the where

and results

protects ‘cognitive a

wide

Page 84

ELTA Journal • December 2014 • Volume 2, No. 2 appears

2011). It appears that one domain in which

both

they do less well than monolinguals are

cognitive control mechanisms and sensory

verbal tasks such as “choose a picture that

processes.’ (Marian & Shook 2012, p 5).

illustrates the spoken word” or the ones

The brain’s structure is also influenced by

that have been mentioned earlier. These

bilingualism. Bilinguality correlates with

results

higher gray matter volume in the left

complementary

inferior parietal cortex (Mechelli et al.,

which the bilinguals usually use their

2004). Scientists have found that damage

languages

to this part of the brain causes uncontrolled

different contexts and with different people.

language switching which implies that it

When bilinguals are tested in both their

may play an important role in managing the

languages the results improve significantly

contextual usage of language. Furthermore

(Grosjean, 2011).

neurological

have

broad

function,

effects

fine-tuning

could

for

explained

principle different

according purposes

the to in

researchers have found that white matter volume changes in bilingual children and

3. The influence of bilingualism on

adults (Luk et al., 2011; Mohades at al.

third language acquisition

2012). All this implies that bilingualism not only influences the neurological functioning but also the neurological structures (Marian & Shook 2012).

bilingualism on third language acquisition

However the parallel activation of two languages in bilinguals can also have some negative effects. Scientists have concluded that bilinguals are slower on picture naming tasks (Gollan, Montoya, Fennema-Notestine, & Morris, 2005), that they produce fewer words in verbal fluency tasks (Rosselli, Ardila, Araujo, Weekes, Caracciolo,

Padilla,

Ostrosky-Solis,

2000) perform worse on lexical decision tasks (Ransdell & Fischler, 1987), and experience much more difficulty with lexical access,

despite

Most of the research on the effects of

sometimes

similar

receptive vocabulary scores (Gollan & Acenas,2004 as cited in Hilchey & Klein

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shows that bilingualism has a positive effect on third language acquisition (Cenoz et al, 2001). As evidence for this statement we can mention some studies done in Spain where the acquisition of English as the L3 was tested in monolingual Spanish students and bilingual (Basque-Spanish or Catalan-Spanish) students. Catalan and Basque are minority languages in Spain but they are regarded as an asset by the whole

community

Spain.

The

monolingual learners received education in Spanish while the bilinguals were educated in their minority languages. In these conditions the results of research from

Page 85

ELTA Journal • December 2014 • Volume 2, No. 2 Cenoz, 1991, 1996; Cenoz & Valencia,

Yelland, Pollard, and Mercury (1993), and

1994;

2000

Ricciardelli (1992a, 1992b) found bilinguals

concluded that bilingualism was a factor

to have greater explicit knowledge of the

that predicted better general proficiency in

language. According to Ellis (1994) the

the third language regardless of other

weak interface position in L2 acquisition

factors such as age, intelligence, exposure

theory

and motivation (Mesaros [no year] ).

knowledge cannot be transformed into

However, other researchers suggest that it

implicit knowledge of the L2, it can help in

is not bilinguality, but biliteracy which

the acquisition process by acting as an

facilitates the acquisition of an L3 (Swain,

advanced organizer, focusing learners’

Lapkin, Rowen & Hart, 1990 as cited in

attention on the relevant features of the

Sanz 2000).

language.

L3 learners have more experience at their

metalinguistic awareness, which results

disposal than do the L2 learners because

from exposure to literacy in two languages,

they have already gone through the

gives bilinguals the capacity to focus on

process of learning a language twice

form and pay attention to the relevant

(Cenoz and Jessner, 2000). Furthermore

features in the input. Just as more efficient

the knowledge of these two languages and

use of memory space enhances the

the experience of the acquisition process

amount of input that can be processed into

of another language are likely to influence

intake, metalinguistic awareness enhances

the acquisition of a third language (Cenoz

the quality of the intake that feeds into the

et al, 2001).

interlanguage system.”(Stanz 2000, p 14).

One of the most researched positive

Klein

effects of bilingualism on L3 acquisition is

bilinguals have two sets of vocabularies

the

metalinguistic

they have a better understanding of the

awareness

arbitrary relationship between words and

Lasagabaster,

higher

awareness.

level

1998,

Metalinguistic

proposes

that:

That

(1995)

is,

suggests

heightened

that

because

their

analyze language by focusing on different

bilinguals would have an advantage over

levels of linguistic structure such as words,

monolinguals in lexical awareness. This is

phonemes,

phonological

important for L3 acquisition because the

awareness, word awareness, sentence

skills used in the acquisition of the second

awareness

set of vocabulary are transferable and

(Weiqiang 2011). Research by Bialystok

applicable to the acquisition of the L3

(1986,

vocabulary. However, this positive effect is

and

1987,

semantic 1991),

Diaz

(1985),

Galambos and Goldin-Meadow (1990),

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evident

This

explicit

allows a person to deeper understand and

syntax,

referents.

“while

suggests

consecutive

that

than

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ELTA Journal • December 2014 • Volume 2, No. 2 simultaneous bilinguals since in the case of

Research

cross-linguistic

simultaneous bilinguals the acquisition of

influence in L3 acquisition is grounded on

both vocabularies was spontaneous and

psycholinguistic

not as much attention was given to the

processing and production in monolinguals

learning strategies as in the case of

(Levelt, 1989) and bilinguals (Green, 1986;

consecutive bilinguals (Weiqiang 2011).

De Bot, 1992; Grosjean, 1997), as well as

The

lexical

on specific proposals of cross-linguistic

awareness brought up the issue of transfer

influence in second language acquisition

which in turn invokes the question of cross-

(Kellerman, 1983 as cited in Cenoz et al.,

linguistic influence, because transfer is just

2001).

one

It is beyond the scope of this paper to go

advantages

the

connected

forms

cross-linguistic

theories

speech

influence.

into all of the aspects and factors that

It is by now fairly obvious that L3

affect cross-linguistic influence. Therefore

acquisition is not just another case of L2

we will only focus on one aspect of cross-

acquisition.

linguistic influence – transfer.

Even

though

the

two

processes may be similar as Clyne (1997:

The definition of transfer that I will use in

113) put it: “the additional language

this paper is Odlin’s (1989): “transfer is the

complicates the operations of the process”

influence resulting from similarities and

(as cited in Mesaros [no year]). The

differences between the target language

differences are most evident when we look

and any other language that has been

at Cross-linguistic influence. In second

previously

language acquisition the first language can

acquired” (p 27 as cited in Murphy, 2005). I

influence the second and vice versa so that

have selected this definition because it is

the cross-linguistic influence can occur in

rather general and it includes both positive,

these two languages in both directions (L1

facilitative and negative transfer.

← → L2). This process is considerably

The first question that arises when we talk

language

about transfer in L3 acquisition is from

cross-linguistic

what language to what language the

complicated

acquisition influence

because occurs

third

between

the

first

transfer

(and

occurs.

perhaps

imperfectly)

Different

hypothesis

language and the second language, the

propose different answers to this question,

first language and the third language as

and we will mention some that we perceive

well as between the second language and

to be the most representative.

the third language (L1 ← →

The Developmentally Moderated Transfer

L2; L1←

→L3; L2← →L3) (Cenoz et al., 2001).

Hypothesis (Hakansson et al. 2002) which incorporates

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transfer

Processability

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ELTA Journal • December 2014 • Volume 2, No. 2 theory argues that transfer will occur only

Bardel and Falk (2007) studied the effects

between the L1 and L2 and L1 and L3 but

that no transfer will occur between L2 and

acquisition. More specifically they wanted

L3 (Bardel & Falk, 2007). The Failed

to see whether transfer would occur and

Features Hypothesis (Hawkins 1998, 2000;

from what language. They tested the

Hawkins & Chan 1997; Smith & Tsimpli

placement of sentence negation. The

1995) also states that no transfer will

participants

happen between L2 and L3 but that L1 will

groups: In the first group were bilinguals

influence both L2 and L3 (Leung, 2005).

whose L1 had the same placement of

On the other hand the Full Transfer Full

negation (verb second V2) as the target

Access Hypothesi (FTFAH)s, as the name

language L3, in the second group were

implies, argues that transfer happens

bilinguals whose second language L2 had

between all of the languages in other

the same placement of negation (V2) like

words L1 ← → L2; L1← →L3; L2← →L3

the L3. This study showed that transfer did

(Leung, 2005).

occur. Transfer occurred from L2 to L3 in

Transfer hypothesis also differ in regard to

both groups. The researchers interpreted

the presumed impact of the L1 grammar.

these results by attributing the fact that

According to the FTFAH all syntactic

transfer occurred only from L2 to L3 to the

properties of L1 initially constitute a base

stronger status factor of the L2 which in

for new developing grammar, which is

this case overpowered the typology factor.

constructed

The results of this research also confirm

Universal Grammar. There are weaker

the Full Transfer Full Access Hypothesis if

views which predict different levels of

we accept the explanation as to why L1

involvement of first language grammar. For

transfer did not occur.

example Vainikka and Young-Scholten

As we have seen from the results from the

(1994; 1996) propose that there is only

aforementioned study transfer and cross-

transfer of the lexical categories. Eubank

linguistic influence is a phenomenon which

(1993/94; 1994) proposes that both lexical

is influenced by many factors. These

and functional categories are transferred

factors can be loosely divided into two

but that feature strength is not. After this

categories: learner based variables and

initial

language based variables. The learner

assumed to construct an interlanguage

based variables are: proficiency, amount of

grammar on the basis of L2 input and the

target language exposure, language mode,

Universal Grammar (Bardel& Falk 2007).

age, linguistic awareness and educational

with

transfer

the

phase,

involvement

the

learner

bilingualism

were

third

separated

language

into

two

background. The language based variables

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Page 88

ELTA Journal â&#x20AC;˘ December 2014 â&#x20AC;˘ Volume 2, No. 2 are typology, frequency and word class

important

(Murphy, 2005).

influence the level of language proficiency

However, the evidence of the positive

that will be achieved. If the level of

effects

proficiency is high in both languages then

that

bilingualism

has

factors

a black and white view on this topic and

benefits

immediately assume that if a person is

bilingualism (Hammers 2000).

bilingual

This is supported by Cumminsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s (1979)

have

acquired

these

enjoy the

directly

the

that

will

they

acquisition should not lull us into acquiring

they

bilingual

since

come

cognitive

with

additive

advantages.

threshold theory according to which a

There are a number of studies that show

bilingual will be able to acquire the

no statistical differences between bilingual

cognitive

and

(Balke-

bilingualism only if a certain minimum

Aurell & Lindblad, 1982; Jaspaert &

threshold of competence in a second

Lemmens, 1990; Sanders & Meijers, 1995;

language is acquired. There are essentially

Schoonen et al.,2002). The effects of

two thresholds the lower and the higher

bilingualism on internal cognitive variables

threshold of bilingual competence. If the

are mediated by external factors related to

lower threshold is reached the individual

particular sociolinguistic situations.

will be a dominant bilingual and will not

The sociolinguistic situation results either

reap

advantages of bilingualism but will also not

monolingual

subtractive

performance

additive

bilingualism

benefits

the

benefits

the

cognitive

suffer

bilingualism the bilingual should show the

subtractive

positive cognitive abilities of bilingualism

threshold

while

reached the individual will be a balanced

subtractive

bilingualism

the

with

(Sanz, 2000). In the case of additive

from

associated

disadvantages

bilingualism. of

the

higher

competence

bilingual

to monolingual speakers. A number of

advantages of bilingualism.

factors influence which type of bilingualism

The

will be acquired.

hypothesis (Cummins 1979) tells us how

Additive bilingualism occurs when both

L1 and L2 skills are related. It proposes

languages have high social standing and

that the level of L2 competence which a

are valued by the community. If the

bilingual child attains is partially a function

languages are valued by the community

of the type of competence the child has

this

developed in L1 at the time when intensive

motivation

also and

influence attitude

the

learners

towards

enjoys

developmental

the

advantages will be acquired in comparison

will

who

bilingual

cognitive

interdependence

the

exposure to L2 begins. For children whose

language. Motivation and attitude are

L1 skills are less well developed in certain

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Page 89

ELTA Journal â&#x20AC;˘ December 2014 â&#x20AC;˘ Volume 2, No. 2 respects, intensive exposure to L2 in initial

biliteracy which enables the forming of

grades is likely to impede the development

cognitive

of L1. If this would happen the individual

therefore an opportunity for the bilinguals

would not gain the cognitive benefits

to be educated in both their languages

associated with bilingualism.

improves their chances of reaping the

As we have mentioned status of the

benefits of bilingualism (Stanz, 2000).

languages

and

When the L2 is present in the community

attitude of the learner but it is also linked to

the quality and quantity of the interaction

the distinction between elite bilingualism

with the speakers of the L2 is another

and folk bilingualism. The languages of

factor.

elite bilinguals as the name implies are

maintenance, if we are talking about a

highly valued in the community and country

minority language situation. As we know

in which they live. An example of this

from the developmental interdependence

would be English- or German-speaking

hypothesis the higher the levels in the two

immigrants

languages

affects the motivation

the

Netherlands

who

advantages

This

the

bilingualism

connected

better

developed

the

consider their language a valuable asset

cognitive functions. But it has also been

and make every effort to maintain it and

confirmed that in minority settings it is

pass it on to their children â&#x20AC;&#x201C;efforts which

better for the family to communicate in their

are encouraged by the host community.

L1. This is because L1 maintenance

The languages of folk bilinguals do not

positively influences the acquisition of the

enjoy high social status. An example of this

L2 and L3.

are

Turkish

migrants

who

will

confronted with the attitude that it is

4. Conclusion

detrimental for them to continue speaking

As we have seen the effects of bilingualism

their L1 and for their children to learn it,

on cognition are quite a complicated

that this will impair their chances for

matter. The stand on this issue today is

assimilation and career opportunities, and

well described in the quote by Ellen

that a switch to monolingual Dutch is

Bialystok and Xiaojia Feng: "The picture

preferable.

elite

emerging from these studies is a complex

bilingualism would have positive effects on

portrait of interactions between bilingualism

the gain of bilingual cognitive advantages

and skill acquisition in which there are

(Baker, 2011).

sometimes benefits for bilingual children,

The country's minority language policy is of

sometimes deficits, and sometimes no

crucial importance. As we have mentioned

consequence at all."(p. 121 as cited in

before it is not bilingualism per se,

Grosjean 2011).

evident

that

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but

Page 90

ELTA Journal • December 2014 • Volume 2, No. 2

References: Bahtia, T.K., William, C. R. (2013). The Handbook of Bilingualism and Multilingualism Second

Edition.

Blackwell

Publishing,

Ltd.

[Electronic

version]

(25.03.2014)

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/9781118332382.fmatter/pdf Baker, C. (2011). Foundations of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism 5th edition. [Electronic version]

Clevedon:

Multilingual

Matters

(26

February

2014)

http://books.google.rs/books?hl=en&lr=&id=fEt5VKBIMSsC&oi=fnd&pg=PR6&dq=bilingualis m+pdf&ots=iFMiKumHR&sig=Mm0WyQzx75N0Fjx8WR8peCdUH1k&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=bilingualism%2 0pdf&f=false Bardel, C. & Falk Y. (2007). The role of the second language in third language acquisition: the case of Germanic syntax. Second Language Research 23,4 (2007); pp. 459-484 (30 May

2014)

http://hal.archives-

ouvertes.fr/docs/00/57/07/36/PDF/PEER_stage2_10.1177%252F0267658307080557.pdf Cenoz, J., Jessner U. (Eds.)(2000). English in Europe: The Acquisition of a Third Language. Clevedon,

Buffalo,

Toronto,

Sydney:

Multilingual

Matters

(17

April

2014)

http://books.google.rs/books?hl=en&lr=&id=iaEGdFnQDJcC&oi=fnd&pg=PR7&dq=bilingualis m+and+third+language+acquisition&ots=ax42CqmTH&sig=J5CT4FoRbk_NRXUsRPTCOMF6_s0&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=bilingualism% 20and%20third%20language%20acquisition&f=false Cenoz, J., Hufeisen, B. &Jessner U. (Eds.)(2001). Cross-linguistic Influence in Third Language

Acquisition:

Multilingual

Psycholinguistic

Perspective

Matters.

[Electronic

(19

version].

Jul

Clevedon: 2013)

http://books.google.rs/books?hl=en&lr=&id=E3VonNCY8TcC&oi=fnd&pg=PA1&dq=bilinguali sm+and+third+language+acquisition&ots=JHhaqvtm0q&sig=8wQPE_b9rhcx52cpT5oTao7x8 U&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=bilingualism%20and%20third%20language%20acquisition&f =false Cummins, J. (1979). Linguistic Interdependence and the Educational Development of Bilingual Children. Review of Educational Research, Vol. 49, No. 2 (Spring, 1979), pp. 222251;

American

Educational

Research

Association

(28

June

2013)

http://www.jstor.org/stable/1169960

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Page 91

ELTA Journal • December 2014 • Volume 2, No. 2 Grosjean, F. (2011). What are the Effects of Bilingualism. Psychology Today (19 March 2014)

http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/life-bilingual/201106/what-are-the-effects-

bilingualism Hammers, J. F. & Blanc, M.H.A. (2000).Bilinguality and Bilingualism.2nd edition [Electronic version]

Cambridge:

Cambridge

University

Press

(09

January

2013)

http://books.google.rs/books?hl=en&lr=&id=2r2l3Nre9sAC&oi=fnd&pg=PP10&dq=definition+ of+bilingualism&ots=cvA2Rqs4_y&sig=CylsoviO8fdy3AqdDrgVhvsovM&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false Hilchey, M.D., Klein, M. R. (2011). Are there bilingual advantages on nonlinguistic interference tasks? Implications for the plasticity of executive control process. Psychonomic Society,

Inc.2011.

[Electronic

version]

(23

June

2013)

http://download.springer.com/static/pdf/839/art%253A10.3758%252Fs13423-011-01167.pdf?auth66=1412286766_f2dbb47dcb4809d233cc95d13711e85c&ext=.pdf Leung, Y. I. (2005) Second vs. Third Language Acquisition of Tense and Agreement in French by Vietnamese Monolinguals and Cantonese-English Bilinguals. Proceedings of the 4th International Symposium on Bilingualism. MA: Cascadilla Press. (16 April 2014) http://www.lingref.com/isb/4/105ISB4.PDF Marian, V. & Shook, A. (2012).The Cognitive Benefits of Being Bilingual. The DANA Foundation.(23

April

2014)

https://dana.org/Cerebrum/2012/The_Cognitive_Benefits_of_Being_Bilingual/ Mesaros, B.T. (no year). Learning English as a Third Language “The Case of Romanian Community

Spain”.

Universitat

Jumae.

[Electronic

version]

(22

June

2013)

http://www.uji.es/bin/publ/edicions/jfi14/filang/3.pdf Murphy, S. (2005). Second Language Transfer During Third Language Acquisition. Teachers College, Columbia University Working Papers in TESOL and Applied Linguistics (16 April 2014) http://journals.tc-library.org/index.php/tesol/article/viewFile/23/28 Sanz, C. (2000). Bilingual education enhances third language acquisition: Evidence from Catalonia.

Applied

Psycholinguistics

(2000),

23-44;

May

2014)

http://faculty.georgetown.edu/sanzc/Sanz2000.pdf Weiqiang, A. A. (2011) Bilingualism and Multilingualism: The Effects of Bilingualism on the Acquisition

Third

Language

(02

March

2014)

https://www.academia.edu/6050076/The_Effect_of_Bilingualism_on_the_Acquisition_of_a_T hird_Language *****

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Page 92

ELTA Journal • December 2014 • Volume 2, No. 2 Radmila Palinkašević has graduated from the Faculty of Philology in Belgrade And she is currently doing her PhD thesis. She works at the Mihailo Palov Preschool Teacher Training College in Vršac. Her interests are ESL methodics, bilingualism and psycholinguistics.

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Page 93

ELTA Journal • December 2014 • Volume 2, No. 2

Developing Artistry in Teaching by Willy Cardoso, freelance, Oxford, UK Abstract Considering the current practice that evaluates teaching in terms of demonstrable classroom behaviours, and teacher knowledge in terms of the accumulation of techniques, there is an increasing concern that the artistry of language teaching is not given enough credit. In this article, the author discusses how this impacts on the work of teachers, especially in terms of performance evaluation and definitions of best practice. This paper also suggests some alternative frames to address areas such as disposition towards inquiry-based development, acknowledgment of the centrality teacher intuition, and the necessity of collective engagement. Key words: artistry, professional development, teacher knowledge, reflective practice, professional knowledge, evaluation Apstrakt S obzirom na trenutnu praksu koja ocenjuje nastavu u smislu dokazivih ponašanja u učionici, i znanja nastavnika u smislu akumulacije tehnika, sve je veća zabrinutost da umetnost učenja jezika nije dobila dovoljno na važnosti. U ovom članku, autor ukauzuje na to kako ovo utiče na rad nastavnika, posebno na polju ocenjivanja i definicijama najbolje prakse. U radu se takođe ukazuje na neke alternativne okvire za rešavanje ove oblasti kao što su određenje prema istraživačko-baziranom razvoju, priznanje važnosti intuicije nastavnika i nužnosti kolektivnog angažmana. Ključne reči: umetnost, profesionalni razvoj, znanje nastavnika, reflektivna praksa, stručno znanje, ocenjivanje

activities, rationales for activities, etc; all of

1. Introduction At the present moment, one of the

which

challenges of teacher development and

knowledge

evaluation, both formal and informal, is to

assessment criteria (i.e. boxes to tick).

swim against the current of a so-called

With modes of evaluation defining what

‘box-ticking’

and

valid professional knowledge is, we have to

Madhavan, 2014). A box-ticking culture is

be reminded that evaluation is never

one that: (a) focuses on visible behaviour

neutral,

knowledge is never neutral either. They are

professional knowledge; (b) considers that

constructed within discourse, which is

change in behaviour means change in

inevitably

cognition;

politically. Within these interrelated spaces

the

culture

main

techniques,

(c)

form

(Cardoso

focuses

evidence

methodologies,

teachers’ classroom

management and control, repertoire of

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there

matching and

and

are

externally its

that

translation

valid

value-laden: power

constructed into

professional

culturally

structures

that

and will

delineate the dominant mode of discourse,

Page 94

ELTA Journal • December 2014 • Volume 2, No. 2 which can be emancipatory for some and

the status of teachers as ‘classroom

oppressing for others. Advances in our

technicians’

understanding of the role teachers tend to

intellectual

open up new ways of thinking; however,

others. One of the main implications would

they can simultaneously limit or suppress

be that “differences in teaching practices

less dominant ways of thinking as well. By

are viewed as merely differences in

evaluating

teaching style rather than as differences

teaching

terms

and work

and

demonstrable classroom behaviours, and

that

teacher

considerations” (Hursh

knowledge

terms

the

derive

giving

from

away

the

responsibility

ethical

and

critical

p. 102). As a

accumulation of techniques, current modes

counter-narrative,

through this article a view of teaching as

false

art, and that teacher development takes

evaluation,

competencies,

with may

their give

focus us

the author

impression of teaching as a coherent,

onboard

linear process, when in fact, the day-to-day

development of artistry. He also proposes

teacher would not find it hard to evaluate

that classroom experiences work their way

one’s practice in terms of “uncertainty,

towards

rupture,

tentativeness,

opportunities for artistic experiences. It

provisionality and self-disclosure” (Smyth,

should be emphasised that this is not a

1995, p.8).

novel or revolutionary view of teaching, but

The challenge is that at the same time the

it is one that is not promoted as often as it

work of teachers becomes more regulated

should. This article is then taken as an

and standardised; teachers are asked to

opportunity to join in the debate and invite

become reflective practitioners and to

others to this less travelled route of inquiry

engage

into our profession.

dissonance,

lifelong

learning

through

elements

the

similar

proposes

opening

the

continuous professional development. The

2. Understanding artistry in teaching

kind of reflection teachers are encouraged

It is curious that after many years of

to engage in is also constituted within a

experience and many years of academic

dominant discourse which reinforces that

engagement with teaching, a well-prepared

teachers should reflect on the practical and

teacher may still find that his/her lesson

personal, which may neglect reflection on

plan failed to address the reality of the

the values constituting their teaching. If

students, as individuals and as a group

your work is mainly spoken in practical and

studying

personal terms then you are accepting a

knowledge we have about what we should

definition

speak

do does not fit, and sometimes we find

(Goodson, 1995). This means reproducing

ourselves in classroom situations which

yourself

you

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together.

Sometimes,

the

Page 95

ELTA Journal • December 2014 • Volume 2, No. 2 are so context/person-specific that it would

an art. It could even be argued that it is

have been impossible to foresee and plan

more of an art form than a science one.

for

even though,

However, one cannot be entirely sure

generally speaking, these situations are

about it. At any rate there are some very

nothing but common. For example, what

important things to reconsider if we agree

kind of knowledge stock the author draws

that teaching resembles artistry.

from to tackle situations in which: students

Elliot Eisner (1985) defines teaching as an

seem to be unresponsive to the material

art in the sense that teachers, like artists,

presented; a student starts to cry out of

make judgments based on qualities that

frustration for not achieving a task; one can

are emergent, that is, which unfold during

overhear a ‘good’ student say the lesson is

the course of action, a course of action

boring. It is felt that these fairly common

which is not dominated by prescriptions but

classroom

a known outcome;

situations

are

practically

contingencies

Teaching

based on an overarching conception of

perception and control of these emergent

teaching.

qualities. Likewise, the ends achieved in

These doubts led the author to look at the

teaching are also emergent, that is, ends

knowledge base of our profession: how it is

are not predetermined but often found in

constructed,

interaction with students.

ideologies

underlie

philosophies

dependent

the

methodologies

For the sake of clarity and simplicity, the

teachers use; what assumptions they hold

author will confine this exploration of

about teaching and the work of teachers.

artistry in teaching within an understanding

The author

found out that there was a

of artistry which consists of artistic ability,

certain world view, a way of seeing things,

artistic quality, and artistic pursuit. With this

that could maybe be lacking in some

in mind, he will further explore how

respect;

teachers can develop artistry.

that

the

and

unpredictability.

impossible to be theorised and studied

what

then

–

would

have

certain

normalised ways of being and behaving

3. Inquiry-based development and

that could be counterproductive to the work

problem-setting mindset

teachers do and consequently to the

It is difficult not to relate artistry in teaching

learning they are trying to bring about in

to the notion of the reflective practitioner.

their students.

Especially in ELT, this theory of practice is

One of these views, and the dominant one,

usually traced back to the work of Donald

is that teaching is a science, or better an

Schon, who in turn was influenced by the

applied science. The contrasting view, and

philosophy of education of John Dewey.

the one promoted is that teaching is also

Schon builds his theory on the hypothesis

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Page 96

ELTA Journal • December 2014 • Volume 2, No. 2 that “there is an irreducible element of art

problem solving and problem setting. In

in professional practice” (Schon, 1987: 18)

lacking the tradition, and therefore the

and because of that we should revisit what

instruments and the language, to describe

an epistemology of practice looks like and

‘artful competence’, teachers may find

in turn rewrite what is valid professional

themselves unable to make sense of the

knowledge and how people acquire it. For

situation and the process of naming and

Schon, professional practice is not only

framing once their foundational grounds or

about solving problems but also, and very

models no longer apply (at least in theory);

importantly, about ‘finding the problems’

i.e. they have nowhere to go and grasp the

(problem-setting). It is with the latter

necessary knowledge that will solve the

concern

becomes

problem if we agree with Schon that

central in the art of reflective practice.

knowledge is in the action. In sum,

Problem-setting, in essence, consists of an

“complexity, instability, and uncertainty are

exercise in naming and framing, which can

not removed or resolved by applying

form a continuous cycle once in the ‘art’ of

specialized knowledge to well-defined task”

practice it is unlikely that a solution to a

(ibid. p. 19). In sum, an inquiry-based

problem will always be the only solution

approach to teacher development which is

possible. In Schon’s words,

focused on problem-setting requires the

When we set the problem, we select what

teacher to accept the unpredictable nature

we will treat as the “things” of the situation,

of his/her practice. The challenge, on the

we set the boundaries of our attention to it,

other hand, is that in many cultures the

and we impose upon it a coherence which

teachers’ job is equated to control, that is,

allows us to say what is wrong and in what

to direct students’ behaviour and cognition

directions

through effective control of materials and

that

the

problem-setting

situation

needs

changed. Problem setting is a process in

group dynamics.

which, interactively, we name the things to

In practice, that means that in trying to

which we will attend and frame the context

develop artistry from an inquiry-based

in which we will attend to them. (ibid. p. 40)

approach,

The process then is always open-ended,

‘development’ as being able to do more

working in iterations and becoming more

with less; that is, with a lesson plan that is

developed as it becomes more reflective.

never ‘complete’ as it always leaves room

However, this is easier said than done. The

to experience and experiment with what

major problem is that of mindset, or the

emerges.

epistemological

relatively

standing

the

professional when faced with situations of

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This

teacher

could

approach

different

set

consider

requires skills

a and

dispositions.

Page 97

ELTA Journal • December 2014 • Volume 2, No. 2 4. Observing and evaluating practice If

relying

scientific

knowledge

tactful

teacher

decisions

temporarily suspended in order to give way

students’ indirect clues such as body

to artistry, then what will lay the grounds

language and expression. Tact involves

for practice? That is, what can teachers

seeing through what is apparently only a

rely on? An interesting analogy to start to

cause-effect relation (van Manen, 1995).

formulate an answer is that of how

In practice, intuition can be developed by

musicians improvise.

reflecting on classroom decision-making.

Musicians know that behind a seemingly

By examining the factors that led the

effortless performance or improvisation

teacher to make a pedagogical decision on

there is an incredible amount of training.

the spots he might find that many of these

The purpose of such an intense training is

decisions

that during the actual performance the

formal/explicit

musician can “forget” all s/he knows. In this

When realising a decision was made

case,

the

based on intuition the teacher can then

improviser will rarely think about what has

examine the conditions in which this was

just happened or what is about to happen;

possible (e.g. who was involved, the time

improvising

incredible

of the day, the type of lesson and material,

awareness, and a need, to be in the

and so on) - these will not determine future

present. For this reason, besides the

practice of similar situations but will inform

technical knowledge and skills, improvisers

them.

show us they have a ‘feel’ for what is going

events will also build the teacher’s self-

on as they adjust their play in light of what

confidence on partly relying on intuition. To

others are playing; and vice-versa.

this end, reflection journals and video

Linked to the idea of developing a ‘feel for’

recordings of classrooms come highly

the material or situation is that of ‘tact’.

recommended.

Tact

moral

As Eisner (1985) put it, the arts teach us to

intuitiveness: A tactful teacher seems to

judge in the absence of rule and to make

have the ability of instantly sensing what

choices based on an attention to nuances

the appropriate, right or good thing to do

and a reliance on feel. For Parks (1992),

on the basis of perceptive pedagogical

there are certain attributes of artistry which

understanding

individual

should be included as a model for judging

nature and circumstances is. (van Manen,

the quality of teachers’ performance. In

1995, p. 10)

terms of ‘artistic’ communication, teachers

seems

the

performance

requires

characterized

children's

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are

the

fly

not

classroom

develop the practice of teaching is to be

during

makes

supported

knowledge

successful,

interpreting

these

her

teaching.

classroom

Page 98

ELTA Journal • December 2014 • Volume 2, No. 2 would demonstrate sensitivity to allegory,

5. Collective engagement

metaphor, irony and other similar concepts, as well as the ability to think qualitatively

The author suggests that professional

about the best way to communicate an

development should focus on teachers’

idea which can trigger empathic and

active

interested

students.

determining the ends of their work; instead

Another relevant attribute is self-knowledge

of just adapting to innovations which focus

and its relation to the subject and skills

on ends determined by others. There has

taught; along with self-motivation and self-

been a constant call for teachers to

directedness

develop in the light of the ‘new’ - that is,

responses

from

which

artist/teacher to

enable

place the

the

pursuit of

process

methodological

contesting

and

technological

knowledge and personal growth above

innovations. But many times what is

other activities and beyond custom and

needed is development which focuses on

conventions.

renewal. A focus on renewal will pool the

From a similar perspective, but with an

local expertise already present in a school

added layer of critical theory, Smyth (1995)

and create conditions for teachers to

argues that teachers can gain some control

collectively strengthen local knowledge

over defining best practice through self-

arising from critical examination of their

government,

self-regulation

self-

accumulated personal experiences (Eraut,

responsibility,

which

essential

1994). In this case, teachers become

aspects of their portrayals of practice and

central in determining the ends of their

reflection. This will reinforce the view that

practice, and not only the processes.

teachers are the ones who know best

Each discipline requires us to learn how to

about teaching.

think within it, however, disciplines are not

sum,

static and unsullied, by thinking within a

evaluations following a technical-rational

discipline we can learn how to change it.

model of knowledge is the emphasis on

An artist develops techniques with which

prediction and control, perhaps at the

s/he can manipulate materials that aid the

expense of exploration and discovery. This

expression of his art; and in many cases

model

the artwork is an expression of deeper

and

values, commitment and ideologies - with

consequently to artistic practices (Eisner,

this awareness, the teacher can also

1985).

develop techniques that will serve as a

diminishes oneself

the

opening

one

will

and

the to

downsides

importance uncertainty,

means to an end. In other words, teaching techniques

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are

not

the

ends;

the

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ELTA Journal • December 2014 • Volume 2, No. 2 accumulation

materials,

individualised concerns; because where

activities, etc, is not the ends of teacher

teachers could benefit from sharing there

professional development - if taken as

might be in place a culture in which asking

artistry; it is a means by which the teacher

for help is seen as a sign of weakness

can express her educational values and

(Britzman, 1986). In face of a certain kind

achieve her educational aims.

of (isolating) autonomy culture, collective

A conflict of ends cannot be resolved by

engagement is thus of utmost importance.

the use of techniques derived from applied

This bottom-up counter-narrative is what

research. It is rather through the non-

can actually empower teachers.

technical

resources,

process

framing

the

6. Conclusion

problematic situation that we may organize

To make sense of their experiences in

and clarify both the ends to be achieved

artistic

and the possible means of achieving them.

overthrow

(Schon1983, p. 41)

researchers,

In a recent interview for TEA Austria, I was

policymakers (Smyth, 1992). One way to

asked whether the forces of box-ticking

rework this cultural image is to reframe

cultures in this age of measurability are

teaching as a transformative intellectual

unstoppable. I think they are, indeed,

activity (Aronowitz and Giroux, 1985). The

unstoppable – but that they don’t preclude

artist-teacher

the emergence of parallel narratives, or

intellectual can offer a counter-narrative for

even

what is possible (and potentially desirable)

counter-narratives.

Many

artistic

terms,

teachers

the

will

image

have

created

administrators

to by and

transformative

expressions develop first as a subculture,

in classrooms.

and are initially frowned upon for their

Because

subversion of the status quo; however

between what is done and what is

imperfect they are they can form novel

undergone

forms of communities of practice and bring

intelligence, and because the artist is

freshness to the field.

controlled in the process of his work by his

In this scenario, engagement stops being

grasp of the connection between what he

an option and becomes a necessity. If left

has already done and what he is to do

curriculum,

next, the idea that the artist does not think

policies, performance indicators, and other

as intently and penetratingly as a scientific

influencers, the classroom can contribute

inquirer is absurd. (Dewey, 1934 p. 45)

to and become a representation of the

Rubin

teacher’s isolation. We ought to be careful

professional “hunger” being the roots of

when collective concerns are turned into

great teaching. Artistry in teaching is

the external forces

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perception

constitutes

(1985)

talks

relationship

the

work

attitude

and

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ELTA Journal â&#x20AC;˘ December 2014 â&#x20AC;˘ Volume 2, No. 2 important, but artistry alone does not

From

this

brief

development

suffice - it is less a matter of talent and

opportunities

more a matter of developing talent along

understanding teaching as an art form, we

with the sort of dedication and attitude

can see teachers and artists share similar

which do not come prescribed.

functions and characteristics. Not the least

In this vein, a number of questions remain:

important of which is that becoming a

how can teachers tap into acts of artistry?

teacher or an artist involves more than

How can they create classroom cultures

making a career choice; above all it is a

that welcome artistry? What role should

choice of how one wants to live â&#x20AC;&#x201C;a life

artistry play in professional development

choice.

and

necessities

the of

activities and what would it look like, feel like, if it played the lead role?

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References: Aronowitz, S., & Giroux, H. A. (1985) Education under siege: The conservative, liberal & radical debate over schooling. South Hadley, M A : Bergin & Garvey. Britzman, D. (1986) Cultural Myths in the Making of a Teacher: Biography and Social Structure in Teacher Education. Harvard Educational Review, 56 (4). Cardoso, W. and Madhavan, D. (2014) Box-ticking or Mind-mapping: Questions about ELT Professional Knowledge. Paper presented at the 48th Annual International IATEFL Conference. Dewey, J. (1934). Art as Experience, reprinted in 1989, John Dewey: The Later Works, 1925–1953. vol. 10. Boydston, J. (ed.), Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press Eisner, Elliot W. (1985) The educational imagination: on the design and evaluation of school programs. New York: Macmillan. Eraut, M. (1994) Developing professional knowledge and competence. London: Falmer Press. Parks, M. E. (1992) The Art of Pedagogy: Artistic Behavior as a Model for Teaching. Art Education, 45 (5), pp. 51-57. Rubin, L. J. (1985) Artistry in Teaching. New York: Harper and Row. Schön, D. (1983) The Reflective Practitioner. How professionals think in action, London: Temple Smith. Schön, D. (1987) Educating the Reflective Practitioner, San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Smyth, J. (1992) Teachers’ Work and the Politics of Reflection. American Educational Research Journal, Vol. 29, No. 2, pp. 267-300 Smyth, J. (ed.) (1995). Critical discourses on teacher development. London: Cassell Hursh, D. (1995) It’s more than style: reflective teachers as ethical and political practitioners. In J. Smyth (Ed.), Critical discourses on teacher development. London: Cassell. Goodson, I. F. (1995). Studying the teacher’s life and work. In J. Smyth (Ed.), Critical discourses on teacher development. London: Cassell. Van Manen, M. (1995) On the Epistemology of Reflective Practice. Teachers and Teaching: theory and practice. 1(1), pp. 33-50. ***** Willy Cardoso is a freelance teacher trainer and course writer with 13 years’ experience in ELT. He tutors in the Certificate in Teaching English as a Life Skill and is the publications editor of IATEFL Teacher Development SIG. He has an MA in Education from the University of Bath. http://willycardoso.com

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Teaching and Learning Financial English Vocabulary by Nina Kisin, MA in English language and literature (the Faculty of Philosophy, the University of Novi Sad) PhD candidate, Teaching Methodology (the Faculty of Philosophy, the University of Novi Sad) Abstract English today is growingly based on English for Finance. Knowledge of new, specific terminology in English not only enriches the rhetoric and the written word, but also leads to the creation of successful diplomatic relations. This article is aimed at presenting some ways of teaching and learning Financial English at intermediate level. Our aim is to present the ways of teaching and throw some light on the new and compelling Business English terms, as well as their widespread use. Data was mostly found in Cambridge University Press – Professional English Online and many dictionaries, with occasional reference to newspaper headlines dealing with current socio-economic developments. Key words: teaching, learning, Financial English, intermediate level, financial vocabulary

Apstrakt Savremeni engleski jezik sve se više bazira na engleskom za finansije. Poznavanje nove, specifične terminologije na engleskom jeziku, ne samo da obogaćuje retoriku i pisanu reč, već i dovodi do stvaranja uspešnih diplomatskih odnosa. Ovaj članak ima za cilj predstavljanje nekih načina poučavanja i učenja engleskog za finansije na srednjem nivou znanja. Naš cilj je da predstavimo načine poučavanja i predstavimo novu i interesantnu terminologiju poslovnog engleskog jezika, kao i njenu široku primenu. Podaci su uglavnom prikupljeni iz: Cambridge University Press - Professional English Online i mnogih rečnika, s povremenim pozivanjem na novinske naslove koji se bave aktuelnim društveno-ekonomskim kretanjima. Ključne reči: poučavanje, učenje, finansijski engleski, srednji nivo, finansijski vokabular.

1. Introduction A language is a reflection of our times. Still, when it comes to the semantic development of the lexeme, it seems as if every epoch had something in common with the previous one. Thus, from Shakespeare's sonnets in which a ʻmortgage’ was used, as in: “and I my self

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am mortgaged to thy will” (Shakespeare 1609, In (eds.): R. Proudfoot et al. 1998: 40) to the present ‘Harry Potter Stock Index,’ lexemes convey meaning and link the old views with the new ones. A conscious language speaker should keep pace with changes that affected lexeme meanings and vocabulary of many languages. Business English is that

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ELTA Journal • December 2014 • Volume 2, No. 2 contemporary and sophisticated area in which the vocabulary develops by immense introduction of new words. Teaching Business English is an umbrella term for English for Specific Purposes (ESP). ESP represents, as its name says, concrete purposes for learning, such as technical, professional, or academic studies (Hashimoto, 1994: 101). More precisely, “ESP is an approach to language teaching in which all decisions as to content and method are based on the learner's reason for learning” (Hutchinson and Wafters, 1987: 19 as cited in Hashimoto, 1994: 101). Having this in mind, we need to create adequate materials and use different techniques with business (English) students, because “business English is not only about language, but about language use” (Robinson, 1990 as cited in Stan, 2013:102). Consequently, it becomes extremely important to present the techniques for teaching and learning vocabulary of English for Specific Purposes (Financial English, in particular), although, unfortunately, this topic is not present to that extent in scientific research. Vocabulary instruction is often neglected in classroom, as well, whereas grammar is an inevitable and significant part of foreign language learning and instruction. This article is aimed at presenting some ways of teaching and learning Financial English at intermediate level. This paper will be recognized, hopefully, as a signpost to the teachers of Business English whenever they find themselves in need of a better technique for teaching vocabulary and learners of Business English searching for a better way to learn financial vocabulary. Techniques for vocabulary learning and instruction are classified into three groups (explicit, independent and

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incidental vocabulary learning). The vocabulary is, however, adapted to the students of Business English at intermediate level. 2. Different

approaches vocabulary learning instruction

to and

There are three different approaches to vocabulary learning and instruction: 1. Explicit vocabulary learning 2. Independent strategy development 3. Incidental vocabulary learning A reader of this article will be able to link these approaches to some of the techniques for Financial English vocabulary learning and instruction mentioned further in this text. Explicit vocabulary learning relies on the direct way of vocabulary learning. The learning aim is lexeme acquisition in the second language, L2. It includes some of the techniques for learning Financial English vocabulary, mentioned in this article: dictionary use, vocabulary lists and their translations, matching words with different definitions, semantic mapping… (Nation 2001 as cited in Trong Tuan 2011: 1689). The drawback of this vocabulary learning approach is that it is too teacheroriented (Schmitt, 2000as cited in Trong Tuan 2011: 1689) and relies on the first language, L1, especially in translation. However, it is useful in teaching elementary learners (Coady, 1997as cited in Trong Tuan 2011: 1689). Pictorial vocabulary teaching and learning, presented further in this article belongs to the independent vocabulary learning. In

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ELTA Journal • December 2014 • Volume 2, No. 2 this approach, the meaning is inferred from context or through “pictures, diagrams, charts…” (Nunan 1999 as cited in Trong Tuan 2011: 1689). The incidental vocabulary learning could be defined as learning a foreign language by accident, or unintentionally. Nation (2001) defined it as “the fact that a person can expand his or her vocabulary knowledge while being involved in any language activities without any specific intention to focus on vocabulary” (Nation 2001 as cited in Trong Tuan 2011: 1689). This includes: “learning from joining conversations; listening to radio, stories, music; watching movies, television; especially extensive reading; or any other exposure of input and output both in and out of the classrooms” (Ibid.). This article presents reading specialized journals and case studies as shining examples of incidental vocabulary learning. Furthermore, since incidental vocabulary learning requires a context from which we deduce meaning, Financial English vocabulary can be contextualized in a sentence.

3. Contextualizing Financial English vocabulary in sentence / case studies

Teaching Financial English vocabulary is a challenge that teachers face. First, lexeme meaning found in Financial English is specific, often context-dependent. Students at intermediate level, in general, find it difficult to understand the meaning and make nouns or compounds memorable. The form (pronunciation, spelling) of lexemes is another problematic aspect when it comes to students’ output.

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However, there are many effective ways to teach new lexemes. For example, first, as it was suggested in Cambridge University Press – Professional English Online, we tried to play hangman and see if students could guess the missing letters. Then, we provided them with the definition of ʻcash cowʼ as “a very profitable business or part of a business” (Longman Business English Dictionary 2000: 66). This was quite a successful technique, as well as the translation of ʻcash cowʼ into Serbian. Students readily offered their translations of ʻcash cowʼ into Serbian, although they improvised to some extent: krava muzara, zlatna koka… A learning technique to make novel lexemes memorable is to use them in a sentence. The students mentioned above did not know how to use ʻcash cowʼ in a sentence. Thus, teacher provided them with example sentences (input): ‘Souvenirs sold at The Royal wedding were the cash cow’ (Cambridge University Press – Professional English Online, n.d.); “GM and Ford have used luxury cars as cash cows; giving those up could have a terrible impact on profitability” (Longman Business English Dictionary 2000: 66). The former sentence can provoke further discussion on the topic of the Royal Wedding, for example. This is an excellent way to incorporate culture in EFL (English as a Foreign Language) classroom. Also, case studies represent a valuable teaching technique. Unlike using lexemes in a sentence, case studies provide a wider context in which students can eventually learn some new nouns or compounds that appear in the text. There are some characteristics of an effective case study: “a good case presents an interest provoking issue and promotes empathy with the central

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ELTA Journal • December 2014 • Volume 2, No. 2 characters” (Boehrer and Linsky1990: 45 as cited in Stanford University Newsletter on Teaching 1994: 1).The author of this paper remembers the reactions of Business English students at intermediate level after they read the case study entitled: “Florida father battles to save his home” (Connolly 2010, bbc.co.uk). The case study is completely dedicated to the dangers of sub-prime mortgages. This case study provides a good context for

understanding the meaning of this noun and it promotes critical thinking in classroom. Sub-prime mortgages entered Financial English vocabulary in 2007 when “loans to sub-prime borrowers, which had previously registered high profits, turned sour as millions of borrowers were unable to keep up repayments on their loans and defaulted on their debts” (General Secretariat of the Council 2012: 4).

4. Fill-in task and matching exercise

It is believed that fill-in tasks increase the second language acquisition. Fill-in task is an excellent way to learn novel nouns (compounds) or other parts of speech. Below is an example of this effective technique for learning Financial English. Students are satisfied with this technique, primarily because it is an excellent way to use new lexemes in contexts. Later, a translation of key words into Serbian is offered to them.

COMPLETE THE SPACES WITH WORDS OR PHRASES FROM THE BOX. consumer spending building societies balance of payments exchange rates interest rates When banks and _______________ offer credit, or cheap loans at low _______________, consumer spending rises and _______________ go up. High _______________ creates pressure to increase wages. High consumer spending also creates more demand for imports. This causes problems for the _______________.

Figure 1. Example of fill-in the gaps exercise (Data source: Sweeney, S. Test your Professional English – Finance, England: PENGUIN English, 2007: 73) Teacher can also translate some additional unknown lexemes that appear in the text (loans, wages). For instance, there is a significant distinction between loan and mortgage, or wage and salary. ‘Loan’ is “money that an organization such as a bank lends and somebody borrows” (Oxford Learner’s Pocket Dictionary of Business English, 2006: 279). On the other hand, ‘mortgage’ is defined as “a legal agreement by which a bank or similar organization lends you money to buy a house […] and you pay the money back over a number of years” (Ibid. 307). Wage is “a regular amount of money that you earn, every week, for work or

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ELTA Journal • December 2014 • Volume 2, No. 2 services” (Ibid. 523), whereas salary is paid on a monthly basis. These differences in meaning should be highlighted and lexemes should be translated into the first language, L1. ENGLISH

SERBIAN

consumer spending

potrošnja potrošača

building societies

građevinska društva

balance payments

of platni bilans

interest rates

kamatne stope

exchange rates

kursna lista

Table 1. Example of a translation technique Matching exercise purpose is twofold: to benefit teachers by providing them with a reliable input for teaching quite abstract Financial English vocabulary and to benefit learners by providing them with a list of new lexemes and their definitions/synonyms, or sometimes, translations into L1. Furthermore, it is proved that we can enhance vocabulary learning by accompanying text-based vocabulary exercises, such as, e.g. matching exercise or crossword puzzle (Wesche & Paribakht, 2000 as cited in Nam, 2010: 133).

Figure 2. Matching exercise (new key words-definitions) Data source: Tonya Trappe, T. and Tullis, G. New Insights into Business, LONGMAN, 2004

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Figure 3. Matching exercise (new key words-translations into L1) Data source: Tonya Trappe, T. and Tullis, G. New Insights into Business, LONGMAN, 2004

5. Semantic mapping Semantic mapping is similar to the keyword method to some extent. However, the difference is in the fact that with semantic mapping, we rely on the links between the lexemes. As can be seen in Figure 4, a keyword (i.e. finance) is connected with other related concepts (banks, money etc.) by using arrows on the basis of their related meaning.

Figure 4. Simple semantic map for “FINANCE” Semantic mapping is a technique that can be used successfully with beginner, intermediate or advanced students. New lexemes require semantic networks of related terms so that we can understand their meaning. Many authors describe semantic mapping as an effective learning technique. Semantic maps can be used successfully in Business English, since many concepts that are abstract (money, assets) can be related to a solid term (finance). Novak and Gowin (1984) based the technique of semantic mapping on "learning how to learn" (Novak and Gowin, 1984 as cited in Oxford and Crookall, 1990: 22). Brown-Azarowicz, Stannard, and Goldin (1986) referred to the technique of semantic mapping, as “a concept tree, for memorizing foreign language vocabulary” (Brown-Azarowicz, et al. 1986 as cited in Oxford and Crookall, 1990: 22). E-mail correspondence: newsletter.elta@gmail.com Copyright ELTA Journal 2014 www.eltajournal.org.rs

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ELTA Journal • December 2014 • Volume 2, No. 2 Memorizing foreign language vocabulary through visual aids (charts, maps, pictures…) is always a good option since learners are able to observe and find semantic similarities between lexemes.

6. Teaching Financial English vocabulary through pictures Pictorial vocabulary teaching is presenting “target vocabulary items […] with their equivalent pictures and written annotations” (Nam, 2010: 130). The L1 intervention can be helpful in learning the vocabulary of the second (foreign) language, L2. Jiang (2004) claimed that “adult L2 learners could draw on the mature conceptual and lexical systems of their native languages (L1s); in part becausetarget vocabulary items usually have corresponding words in L1s” (Jiang, 2004: 416-432as cited in Nam, 2010: 130). Furthermore, we are accustomed to the linkage between verbal and visual symbols: no-smoking signs on airplanes and stop signs (Oxford and Crookall, 1990:17), or warning signs. As for presenting new lexemes through pictures, “a large number of learners in our culture are primarily visual learners” (Dunn & Dunn, 1972 as cited in Oxford and Crookall, 1990:17), and “94% of all people are at least moderately good at using visual imagery” (Goleman, 1986as cited in Oxford and Crookall, 1990:17).

Figure 5. True/false type of exercise with pictorial vocabulary teaching (Data source: Sweeney, S. Test your Professional English – Finance, England: PENGUIN English, 2007: 73) In Financial English, though, it becomes difficult to use pictorial vocabulary teaching to present new lexemes. Financial English vocabulary is abstract. For instance, it is difficult to present/explain by using pictures the lexemes such as budget, interest rates, cash flow plan, (toxic) assets, liquidity. However, Figure 5 given above is an attempt of pictorial vocabulary teaching combined with true/false type of exercise. It leads students to the conclusion on the meaning of interest rates (true/false): “Stable and low inflation and interest rates are an economic ‘good thing’” (answer: true). In the second part of the task students need to circle the correct answers: Low interest rates/high interest rates help to control inflation/small banks; answer: “High interest rates help to control inflation”. Alternatively, teachers can present new vocabulary in Financial English, by using the keyword method. Teachers can use PowerPoint presentation to provide students with a review of the key vocabulary, as in Figure 6 (data source: Tonya Trappe, T. and Tullis, G. New Insights into Business, LONGMAN, 2004). This is a good way to present abstract E-mail correspondence: newsletter.elta@gmail.com Copyright ELTA Journal 2014 www.eltajournal.org.rs

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ELTA Journal • December 2014 • Volume 2, No. 2 vocabulary. In Figure 6, Stock market (or, stock exchange) is a key lexeme surrounded by related lexemes.

Figure 6. The key vocabulary review by using PowerPoint presentation Data source: Tonya Trappe, T. and Tullis, G. New Insights into Business, LONGMAN, 2004

7. Teaching Financial English through specialized journals

Another interesting and quite novel aspect of teaching Financial English vocabulary is through specialized journals (The Economist, The Financial Times, etc.) that offer current and relevant terminology. Content-based teaching is an important part of languages for specific purposes. With this technique, “language becomes a vehicle to convey the goals of content” (Stan, 2013: 102). Financial English vocabulary is unique, since it contains the lexemes which are found in determined contexts (economic, financial, social…). Thus, it becomes important to provide students with an input which contains up-to-date, relevant data on financial, economic, or social development. An article written by Michael White, entitled “Turbulence and turmoil in the market or the language of a financial crisis” illustrates the usage of finance-related lexemes (‘turbulence,’ ‘turmoil’) by many examples from the eminent newspapers (The Times, The Financial Times, September 1992).

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For instance, “Foreign exchange markets were heading for turmoil this morning after the shock announcement of the devaluation of the lira...,” as well as: “[…] but if post-war history is any guide the likely outcome is months of turbulence, followed by capitulation to political and market pressure” (White 2004: 73). ‘Turmoil’ is usually related to chaos and disorder. ‘Turbulence’ is associated with “weather phenomena, especially related to problems in air travel or extreme meteorological phenomena such as hurricanes or tornados” (Ibid. p. 74). Further exploration of these finance-related lexemes leads us to the fact that both ʻturbulenceʼ and ʻturmoilʼ can refer to the currency crisis: “... the plan will protect the pound from any market turbulence [...]” and “in the third successive day of currency turmoil [...]” (White 2004: 75). Still, there are some differences between ʻturbulenceʼ and ʻturmoilʼ. The former refers to the fluid dynamics, natural phenomena and weather phenomena, while the latter refers to the ‘social upheaval’ (Ibid.). The following sentence puts ‘turmoil’ into an appropriate context of the currency crisis:

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ELTA Journal • December 2014 • Volume 2, No. 2 “Given the turmoil in the currency markets, Mr. Helmut Kohl's meeting with Mr. Mitterand ... looks like a case of rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic”(White 2004: 78). In addition to this, it is interesting to observe the dynamics of lexemes, since they always appear in different contexts. Sometimes, teachers can even make reference to the famous books or novels so as to connect the “old” and “new” views. For instance, in Shakespeare’s times, ‘turmoil’ was used in The Two Gentlemen of Verona (II, vii) as follows: “And there I'll rest, as after much turmoil,” where ‘turmoil’ had its usual uncountable form and meaning – chaos, disorder. By using specialized journals technique teachers can widen the scope of contexts in which a certain phrase or term can be used. Also, students will get a relevant and appropriate input. Successful output will be in the form of well-developed written communication skills, since “extensive reading can improve not only learners’ reading comprehension but also learners’ writing skills […] and can also enhance learners’ autonomy, independence, and reading interest” (Stan, 2013: 102). Research conducted by Vanda Stan, PhD, the University “Vasile Goldis” showed that,

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after the provided input in the form of content-based teaching, “77% students claimed they would continue reading to keep up with the changing world outside their country’s borders, 68% students considered that reading business articles in English was no longer hard to them” (Ibid: 103-104).

8. Conclusion This article attempted to present different techniques for teaching and learning Financial English vocabulary. Techniques for vocabulary learning and instruction were classified into three groups (explicit, independent and incidental vocabulary learning). These techniques are applicable to many foreign language learning situations. The choice and usage of an adequate teaching/learning technique should be wisely crafted and well-planned. We relied on theory and practical examples in our presentation of teaching/learning techniques. Our focus in this article was primarily Financial English at intermediate level. Further research should be undertaken to observe the relation between the choice of vocabulary techniques and learning and teaching styles.

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References: Cambridge University Press – Professional English Online. (n.d.). Cambridge: University Press. http://peo.cambridge.org/ (15.06.2014). Connolly, K. (2010). “Case study: Florida father battles to save his home”, 15.10.2010. BBC News. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-11528878(14.07.2014). General Secretariat of the Council. (2012). Financial crisis: Key Terms in 23 languages. Brussels. Hashimoto,M. (1994). English for Specific Purposes (ESP) and the Teaching of Financial English. KANAGAWA University Repository. Longman Business English Dictionary.(2000). Harlow: Pearson Education Limited. Nam, J. (2010). “Linking Research and Practice: Effective Strategies for Teaching Vocabulary in the ESL Classroom”. TESL Canada Journal 28 (1). Oxford learner's pocket dictionary of Business English.(2006). Oxford: Oxford University Press. Oxford, R.and Crookall, D. (1990). “Vocabulary Learning: A Critical Analysis of Techniques”. TESL Canada Journal 2 (7), pp. 9-30. Shakespeare, W. (1609). The Sonnets. In: R. Proudfoot, A. Thompson, D. S.Kastaneds. 1998. Arden Shakespeare Complete Works. London, A & C Black: 17-49. Shakespeare, W. (1594). The Two Gentlemen of Verona In: W. Carroll ed. 3rd edition, 2004. Bloomsbury Arden Shakespeare. Bloomsbury Publishing: London. Stan, V. (2013). “ESP Rules! Teaching Financial /Business English Using Specialized Journals”. International Journal of Business and Social Science 4 (10). Stanford University Newsletter on Teaching. (1994). “Teaching with Case Studies”. Speaking of teaching 5 (2) pp. 1-4. Sweeney, S. (2007). Test your Professional English – Finance. England: PENGUIN English. Tonya Trappe, T. and Tullis, G. (2004). New Insights into Business. LONGMAN. Trong Tuan, L.(2011). “An Empirical Research on Self-learning Vocabulary”. Theory and Practice in Language Studies 1 (12), pp. 1688-1695. White, M. (2004). “Turbulence and turmoil in the market or the language of a financial crisis”. Ibérica 7: 71-86. ***** Nina Kisin was born in 1988 in Trebinje, Bosnia and Herzegovina. She graduated from the Faculty of Philosophy (the University of Novi Sad) in June 2011, with a degree in English Language and

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ELTA Journal â&#x20AC;˘ December 2014 â&#x20AC;˘ Volume 2, No. 2 Literature, BA. She defended her master's thesis in the field of linguistics in September 2012(the Faculty of Philosophy, the University of Novi Sad). In October, 2012 she enrolled in a PhD program at the Faculty of Philosophy (the University of Novi Sad) with a focus on Teaching Methodology. Currently, she is successfully finishing the third, final year of her PhD studies. Contact email: acd.nina@nscable.net

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ELTA Journal • December 2014 • Volume 2, No. 2

Ethical considerations ELTA Journal reviewing process follows the guidelines of the double peer review and neither the reviewer nor the submission authors are informed of the other. ELTA Journal reviewers have been recruited according to their field of academic specialization, academic credibility, their degree level (Ph.D.) and /or the track record of their engagement in the ELT or other educational fields. ELTA Journal reviewers in the current issue have been: • Tatjana Glušac, Ph.D., Assistant professor, Faculty of Law and Business Studies Dr Lazar Vrkatić, Union University Belgrade; Serbia; • Bojana Nikić Vujić, MA., The School of Pharmacy and Physiotherapy, Belgrade, Serbia; • Slobodanka Kitić, Ph.D., Associate professor, Mediterranean University, Podgorica, Montenegro; • Vladimir Široki, MA. Freelance consultant in English Language & Literature, Novi Sad, Serbia; • Ana Sentov, MA. Lecturer; Faculty of Law and Business Studies Dr Lazar Vrkatić, Union University Belgrade; Serbia;

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